PreventEd is honored to present the 2021 Service Award to Williams & Associates in appreciation of remarkable and selfless efforts in addressing substance use their community.
Erise Williams, Jr., MPH is the co-founder of Williams & Associates, Inc, a community based non-profit agency addressing minority health disparities and health equity issues that impact minority health for 19 years. He has served as the founding executive director of Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS (BABAA- 1990-2002), which under his leadership, became one of the premier minority ASOs (AIDS Service Organization) in the Midwest region. Mr. Williams served in this position for 12 years, before leaving and starting Williams & Associates Inc, to address minority health disparities and health equity.
The agency currently provides direct services in the area of substance abuse prevention, linkage to treatment, as well as recovery support. HIV/AIDS prevention and care services are also an integral part of the agency’s services under his leadership, as well, as prevention, treatment, and linkage to care services related to those health ailments that disproportionate impact minority populations.
Mr. Williams has been able to design and implement behavioral health services that address the social determinants of minority health through the creation of accessible safe (confident) spaces that provide non-judgmental services through a drop-in-center format, such as STI testing and treatment, HIV testing and counseling, substance abuse and mental health counseling, through the development and use of two drop-in centers, one in St. Louis City and one in St. Louis County.
In 2016, Mr Williams lead the charge to address violence, through a violence prevention program known as “AIM4PeaceSTL” which focuses on addressing violence among young men ages 18-29 years of age. Under Mr. Williams’ direction this project takes a public health approach to violence and violence prevention, while addressing the social determinants of health and violence.
