WISCONSIN, (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- As the Coronavirus pandemic sweeps over Wisconsin, the addiction recovery community is seeing an increase in overdoses and deaths by suicide. 

The Wisconsin Recovery Advocacy Project held a virtual town hall to raise awareness on a variety of topics.

Many people who took part in the "COVID-19 and Recovery" town hall are in recovery themselves. Skye Boughman has been at it for seventeen years.

“I know what it’s like to struggle with addiction and I know how life-changing recovery can be,” says Boughman.

Another face on the panel was former Wisconsin Badgers and Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball. Ball lost his NFL dream after two seasons due to alcohol addiction and served time for domestic abuse. Ball watched from a jail cell as his former team won the Super Bowl.

“People in the same cell as me (were) saying, 'That’s supposed to be you up there.' That is the definition to me of rock bottom,” says Ball.

Ball has been sober for almost four years and now helps those in minority communities who struggle with addiction through Wisconsin Voices for Recovery.

“To dive and ask questions and figure out what kind of resources they need. Provide them with (an) education that’s to their benefit that some of these individuals may not know that are even accessible to them,” said Ball.

Overdose deaths are on the rise. Milwaukee County reports a record 418 deaths last year and project 560 for 2020. Boughman personally knows twelve people who have died of overdose since the beginning of the pandemic.

“I saw these people’s stories, I know them. They became homeless because the eviction protections did not protect them, and that led to a relapse and an overdose,” says Boughman.

Beating addiction is tough enough. Add in social distancing and virtual meetings, things get much harder.

“A lot of these communities do not have access to basic internet, laptop, cell phones to be able to still tap into whatever agency they’re getting their information from,” says Ball.

“I don’t know if I would have made it (without that kind of access). The services, the groups, the community, that’s what I depended on. We are an in-person support community. We have meetings we have groups. We have individual sessions. We show up. That’s one of the tenants of recovery,” says Boughman.

Three state lawmakers were also on the panel, Representatives John Nygren and Melissa Sargent, along with State Senator Janet Bewley. They took questions and listened to concerns from the recovery community.

“We need this top of mind for our legislators so that going into budget season, our community gets the services that they need,” says Boughman.

You can also call 211 for addiction recovery resources in Wisconsin. Help is available every day of the year through the hotline operated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at 1-800-662-4357. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has posted resources on its website, Dose of Reality.