Merna Leisure-Eppick, United Church of God member from Springfield, Missouri, was recently named as one of Springfield’s most influential women of 2011 by the Springfield Business Journal. Below is a short excerpt from the article published in the Review.

“Merna Leisure-Eppick has built her career on education of recovery from substance abuse, and she brought her knowledge to Springfield, Missouri, when she moved here in 2006.

“In the mid-1980s, Leisure-Eppick was in California, where she volunteered with the South Pasadena school district in numerous roles. As her children got older and entered high school, she began her work in addiction recovery as a volunteer van driver at a women’s facility. Later roles included peer advocate, counselor, program coordinator and eventually in an executive director role for an organization there.”

You can read the rest of the article and see a photo of Mrs. Leisure-Eppick at http://tinyurl.com/ucg-merna.