Our Mission

Our mission is to respond to the impact of the ongoing opioid epidemic on our ethnic communities. ECORN- MO will serve as an advocate for language and culturally appropriate resources for individuals, families, and communities affected by this crisis. We will advocate for a public health response to the opioids epidemic grounded in both quantitative & qualitative data that is inclusive of race, ethnicity, culture, language, gender (binary & nonbinary identity), LGBTQ+, and ability. Our current focus is on the opioid crisis in St Louis City & St Louis County.
We propose an up-stream/downstream approach to this public health crisis. This requires equal attention to people suffering with opioids related Substance Use Disorder (SUD); and equal attention to those who have not yet been exposed to opioids. This strategy has the potential of having positive results for individuals, communities, institutions, employers, and our present and future workforce.

Our Goals

1. Respond in a manner that our actions will have a positive impact on the health and mental health of not just our English-Plus communities, but also on our community in general, our workforce and the economy.
2. Respond to the immediate and long-term needs resulting from the ongoing opioid crisis in our ethnic English, limited English and non-English speaking communities.
3. Advocate for funding for support our collaborative efforts.
4. Provide education and prevention resources for individuals and communities who have not yet been affected by the ongoing national opioid epidemic.
5. Advocate for the development and dissemination of ethnic (culturally and linguistically appropriate) opioid education, prevention, harm reduction, and resources for students & parents, and communities.

The Impact of Data – Who’s being left behind, and why?

Data is the foundation of research that drives opioid response policy, funding, and programs. The Ethnic Communities Opioid Response Network – MO advocates for the use of disaggregated data (including people who use languages other than English (LOTE) to address the opioid crisis in our ethnic communities. Imbedded within the white and black community data that is commonly used in the current opioid crisis response, there are communities that are ethnic and language diversity.

Board of Directors

1. Sal Valadez, ECORN-MO Board Chair/Founder & Diversity, Outreach and Marketing Representative, LiUNA Midwest Region & Missouri and Kansas Laborers District Council (St Louis)
2. Caroline Fan, Co-Founder/Board Member, Board Co-Chair & Founder/President, Asian Youth Foundation (St Louis)
3. Lizzie Warner, Co-Founder/Board Secretary & Program Manager, Immigrant Home English Learning Program & Chair, Immigrant Service Provider Network (ISPN) Language Access Committee (St Louis)
4. Geoffrey Soyiantet, Co-Founder/Board Member & Executive Director, Vitendo4Africa (St Louis)
5. Damon E. Broadus, Co-Founder/Board Member & Director, Health Promotion and Public Health Research, Saint Louis County Department of Public Health
6. Moji Sidiqi, Co-Founder/Board Member & Manager, Afghan Support Program, International Institute (St Louis) 
7. Diego Abente, Co/Founder/Board Member & Executive Director, Casa de Salud (St Louis)
8. Aldin Lolic, Co-Founder/Board Member, & Founder/Chair, Bosnian Opioids Project
9. Adil Imdad, Co-Founder/Board Member & Director, Social Services, Islamic Foundation of St Louis
10. Tony Maldonado, Co-Founder/Board Member & Chair, Hispanic Leaders Group & 1 st District Commissioner, State of Missouri Human Rights Commission
11. Dr. Zia Moiz Ahmad, MD, Co-Founder/Board Member & Director, Salam Clinic – St Louis
12. Manar-ul Islam Swaby, Board Member & Founder of Sway B Access LLC (Language Justice & Accessibility Consulting) 
13. Rebecca Niedner, Board Member & Director of Language Services, Bilingual International Assistant Services
14. Sherrie Watkins, Board Member & Technology Transfer Specialist, Opioid Response Network (ORN) Midwest Region & Liaison, Mid-America Addiction Technology Transfer Center – Collaborative to Advance Health Services, School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC)
15. Jessica Hulsey, Board Member & Executive Director/Founder, Addiction Policy Forum, Washington, D.C.
16. Kristin Bengtson, Board Member & Associate Director of Community Strategy, PreventEd – St Louis