Interview Summary: Africa L.

Learning Quotes from Africa Lucas

“What used to hurt me heals me now — and it frees others. When I can sit with what once brought me pain, it gives me power. You don’t look like what you’ve been through.”

“You can’t treat my mom’s addiction and not treat the children. Healing is a whole family’s process.”

“You don’t need a badge or a title to be credible — your lived experience is your credibility. What you’ve lived through is how you reach people.”

“You can’t reach people being cookie-cutter. Get radical in your approaches. You can’t do this work by the book — you have to meet people where they are.”

“Don’t count your loved ones out. Prayer covered what programs couldn’t. My mother’s 18 years of recovery started the day she made her mind up and believed she was worth saving.”

Conversation Overview

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Africa L. story begins in childhood—where she witnessed the impact of addiction in her own home and grew into the caretaker of her younger siblings. Her mother’s struggle with substance use, trauma, and recovery shaped Africa’s understanding of resilience and the complexity of healing. What began as survival became purpose.

Africa went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and public health, returning to the same community that once counted her family out. Today, she leads Milwaukee County DHHS’s Featuring Our Community’s Untold Stories (FOCUS) project, designed to bring forward the lived experiences of those most affected by substance use and recovery. Her work reflects a commitment to Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) — engaging the community not as subjects but as co-researchers and truth-tellers.

Through her story, Africa reminds us that healing is neither linear nor solitary. It’s built through family, prayer, accountability, and the belief that recovery must include both the person and their environment.

Key Learnings

• Healing is generational. Families carry both trauma and strength. Real recovery happens when we treat the household, not just the individual.

• Programs must be radical. Cookie-cutter approaches and profit-driven models fail to meet people where they are. True change requires flexibility, authenticity, and community guidance.

• Lived experience is expertise. Those who’ve walked through addiction and recovery hold essential knowledge that can strengthen service systems and outreach.

• Systems must evolve. Current treatment structures often separate trauma, mental health, and addiction — when in reality, they overlap. A holistic, person-centered approach is needed.

• Faith and family matter. Prayer and intergenerational love became a lifeline in her family’s recovery journey. Africa’s mother is now 18 years in recovery and mentors others on their path.

Insight for Systems Change

Africa’s story illustrates why the FOCUS initiative matters. Too often, data overshadows humanity. Her experience demonstrates that listening to lived realities can inform better programs, funding, and care models. By grounding work in CBPR principles, Milwaukee County CARS aims to center the people, not just the problem — creating space for healing that begins with being seen, heard, and believed.