Walk for the Love – A Walk Across America

Road signs in New Mexico

New state – Arizona!

Snow in Camp Verde, Arizona

Highway 78 in California

Grand Portage residents Julie and Jess Koski have been walking across the United States to raise awareness about overdose prevention and harm reduction. They began their journey in Acadia, Maine on July 1st, 2023 and arrived at the Pacific Ocean in Carlsbad, California on April 5th, 2024–a distance of 3,676 miles.

Treatment center in Escondido, CA

Carrots in the Imperial Valley, California

Beavertail bloom, Palo Verde, CA

WTIP’s Staci Drouillard asked how they were feeling after completing this physically and mentally challenging accomplishment and if they experienced any personal transformations or revelations over the course of their 8.5 month adventure. Lean more at walkforthelove.com

Photos courtesy of Julie and Jess Koski
Reporting is supported in part by the Blandin Foundation

Grand Portage residents Julie and Jess Koski are walking across the U.S. to raise awareness about opioid overdose and harm reduction services, including access to Narcan and other supplies.

In this segment, they are 2,800 miles into the journey, veering west toward their final destination in San Diego, California. Julie explains why different approaches are needed to reverse Fentanyl and Xylazine overdoses, two very dangerous drugs which have recently been found in Cook County, MN. We learn about local, harm reduction distribution sites at Grand Portage and at the Cook County Court House. Julie also adds insight into why calling 911 in the event of an overdose is sometimes a difficult option for some people. Follow along at Walk for the Love.

Jess Koski successfully tackles the 100-mile “Across the Years” run in Phoenix, AZ.

Road trash near Estancia, NM., January 2024.

To get harm reduction supplies or more information about overdose prevention in Cook County, call:
Cook County Public Health and Human Services – 218-387-3620 or Grand Portage Human Services – 218-475-2453.

Walk for the Love is produced by Staci Drouillard and is funded in part by the Blandin Foundation.

Grand Portage residents Julie and Jess Koski are walking across the United States as part of “Walk for the Love,” their effort to raise awareness about the opioid crisis, and how access to Naloxone (Narcan) can save lives. In this two-part segment we catch up with them in central Kansas, over 2,000 miles into their journey.

Jess Koski on the Flint Hills Trail in Kansas, where he walked 30 miles in one day.

Indiana Amish outside Aldi.

In the first segment, Julie explains how harm reduction methods can also save lives, and why it’s an effective way to help people who are caught in a cycle of opioid overuse.

Homes in Gary, Indiana.

Julie and Jess at the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers. 2023

In part two, they share some highlights from the journey, as well as some tough times, and we learn why the opioid Fentanyl is the leading factor of opioid-related drug overdose deaths in the United States.

Find Harm Reduction resources and where you can find Naloxone (Narcan) in your region. Follow along with them at walkforthelove.com

Grand Portage residents Julie and Jess Koski and their two dogs Izzy and Giizhik, left Acadia National Park, Maine on July 7, 2023 toward their final destination in San Diego, California. A journey of about 3,400 miles that they are traveling on foot, to raise awareness about accidental death due to opioid overdose–the leading cause of death in the United States. WTIP catches up with them on the Wabash Cannonball Trail in Ohio, after they’ve been walking for over ten weeks. To learn more about their mission and follow along, visit walkforthelove.com.

Julie and Jess Koski with their dogs at Winter Harbor in Acadia National Park, Maine.

Flooding aftermath in Montpelier, Vermont, 2023.

Bethel, VT before the Koskis started on the Erie Canalway Trail across the state of New York.

Erie Canalway Trail, New York State

This feature is produced by Staci Drouillard for WTIP North Shore Community Radio, with help from the Blandin Foundation.