Wellness & Well-being Highlights December 8th

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of December 8, 2025

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog provides us an opportunity to attend a panel discussion on how an opioids medication with a history of success was sidelined—to how Mexico is sending drug kingpins to the US for prosecution—to how young athletes are being exploited by the ‘system’.

This week I would like to discuss the importance of honoring those people who do the right things for the right reasons. Below are 3 examples: 2 do’s and 1 don’t. I will begin and end with positive champions.

The STL labor community just lost one of those champions: Patti Green.[1] I have known her for years and watched her from afar. Just days before her death, I was invited to attend a MoWIT (Missouri Women in the Trades) meeting. (This blog recently addressed the rash of women tradespeople who were killed due to domestic or workplace violence.) Before, during, and after that meeting, Patti conducted herself in a professional manner but, more importantly, was kind and welcoming. She indeed set a great example for the younger attendees in the room that evening. In fact, she was the epitome of one of my most-often quotes: Leaders must model the behaviors their desire! To this end, Patti was not seeking glory. Her actions were not devised to shame others into submission; They truly were for the greater good!

To this end, FIFA recently announced their 2026 schedule for the men’s tournament across North America. In so doing, they politized the event by awarding Trump with a Peace Prize. Since then, many comments online probe the following: 1) When did FIFA get in the business of peace? 2) Why is FIFA pandering to a bully? Not to mention, what ‘peace’? Just wondering how many of the folks living in or near Gaza and/or Ukraine would support FIFA’s take on ‘peace’?

Finally, the STL community has another gem in their midst. His name is Percy Menzies. I became acquainted with him nearly a decade ago—thanks to Don Willey. His work in combatting the opioids crisis in the USA with the use of naltrexone (Vivitrol) was groundbreaking…but too often ignored influenced by big money interests. Percy is the founder of ARCA. His team has developed creative solutions to addressing the substance misuse needs within our communities.[3] Want to know more? Then consider attending the world premiere of ANTAGONIST next Saturday.[4]

It is time we begin honoring those who serve vs those who demand to be served!!!

Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/

Sources: [1] https://constructforstl.org/mowit-loses-a-sister-and-friend-patti-green/

[2] https://www.wsj.com/sports/soccer/world-cup-fifa-trump-peace-prize-e250507c?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1

[3] https://www.youtube.com/live/RKWyeUXfeio?t=11173s

[4] https://www.slcl.org/events/ben-westhoff

Tribute: Patti Green—Champion for Women Workers

Tribute: Children of School Shootings

DANGER: Tech / Teens / MH

Antagonist (Preview)

Captured: Mexican Drug Lords

Update: Mexican Fentanyl Kingpin