Save the Michaels of the World, Inc. was established in June of 2011 as a small kitchen roundtable action group, to bring attention and awareness of the devastating effects of opioid medications after the death by suicide of 20 year old Michael David Israel.

Avi and Julie Israel decided they didn’t want to see other families suffer the loss of a loved one. The journey started with an interview with a Buffalo News reporter who told Michael’s story. That story got more attention from TV stations. Doctors, patients, parents and the population as a whole are not aware of the danger of opiate addiction. We wanted to find a way to address the overprescribing of pain medications such as hydrocodone and others.
 

Case Management Supervisor
Save the Michaels Lockport

Sarah joined Save the Michaels in the January of 2025 as the Case Manager Supervisor for the HHUNY program located in the Lockport Recovery Center. In 2016 Sarah lost her husband to an opiate overdose which left her as a single mother of 3.  Following the loss of her husband Sarah battled with depression followed by a struggle with addiction for the next several years of her life. Due to her life battles, Sarah found an opportunity to begin work in the mental health and SUD field. While still struggling with addiction on and off Sarah bounced around to a couple different agencies providing peer work, case management, housing, and office management. Sarah knew working in this field was what she was meant to do and had a passion for helping people. After a few months of sobriety beginning in April of 2024, Sarah saw the job posting for Save the Michaels and knew that this was the opportunity that she had been waiting for. Since starting in her current position with Save the Michaels, Sarah uses her life experiences to connect with individuals while assisting them to navigate their way through life and link them with the resources necessary for their path to recovery. Sarah believes Save the Michaels has been the missing piece the fills the void in her life since her husband passed. Sarah will be celebrating one year of sobriety in the month of April and wants to thank all her employees, co-workers, peers and participants for helping her find her true self again and being a part of her sobriety journey.




 

‘Narcan — it gives people a second chance’: New Narcan vending machine to save lives 

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/northtowns/narcan-it-gives-people-a-second-chance-new-narcan-vending-machine-to-save-lives

There is a new way of fighting the drug overdose epidemic to save lives. A Narcan vending machine is now installed outside the Kenmore Fire Department.