ECHO Minnesota
Emergency, Community and Health Outreach
BE HEALTHY. BE SAFE. BE READY.
ECHO Minnesota
c/o Association of MN Counties
125 Charles Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55103
[p] 651.789.4342
www.echominnesota.org
FREQUENTLYASKED QUESTIONS
What is ECHO’s mission?
ECHO’s mission is to provide communities across Minnesota with a centralized, quality source of multilingual, multi-cultural educational, emergency alert services and civic education programs that
meet the health, safety and emergency preparedness needs of an ever-changing, diverse population.
Why do we need ECHO?
Over half a million limited-English speaking residents of Minnesota are put at risk due to the lack of reliable
and accessible health and safety information available in their native languages — and this translates into
a larger risk for everyone.
A national study conducted by Drexel University concluded, “that effective implementation of public health
preparedness policies will require compliance from all racial and ethnic populations.” The same study
revealed gaps in planning and a lack of resources designed to reach the needs of diverse communities.
“In March, 2009 the Red River overflowed its banks, cresting at a record-breaking 41
feet and flooding Moorhead, MN. We needed to get our residents — including Croatian,
Kurdish, Somali and Spanish speaking individuals — critical flood and evacuation safety
information. We activated ECHO and within hours, they provided print, audio and video
materials in all four languages, and helped us secure the safety of all our community
members.” ~ Kathy McKay, Clay County Public Health
As Minnesota’s go-to resource for health, safety and emergency readiness information in multiple
languages, ECHO fills these critical gaps in communication and education — and works to ensure
that no one is ever barred from life-saving health and safety education or emergency messaging due to
language or cultural barriers.
How does ECHO work?
ECHO collaborates with content-matter experts, trusted community leaders and talented bilingual ethnic
spokespersons to create and distribute high-quality educational health, safety and emergency preparedness
resources in multiple languages.
(over, please)
Educational productions, emergency preparedness services and community outreach resources are available
through a range of effective communication channels: ECHO TV (broadcast statewide on tptMN), ECHO
DVDs, ECHO Web (www.echominnesota.org), ECHO Phone (1.888.883.8831) and ECHO Partner
Relays.
These tools are firmly rooted in the communities we serve as reliable and accurate sources of health and
safety information. ECHO’s communication channels also function as an ever-ready emergency response
infrastructure, ensuring that when a crisis occurs ECHO is always prepared to respond with a proven
system in place to translate, produce and distribute information rapidly and effectively.
Why create educational programs in multiple languages?
Most public health and safety agencies focus solely on providing literal translations of English-language
health and safety materials.
“Literal translations of materials often ignore issues of accuracy and cultural acceptability”
~ Health Affairs, Sept/Oct., 2007
ECHO works closely with a team of highly skilled experts and bilingual, ethnic community spokespersons
to ensure that all materials are presented in a clear, comprehensible and culturally appropriate
manner. By producing materials for TV, phone, radio and print distribution, we ensure that all resources
are readily available across a broad range of media — so our stakeholders can access the information that
they need in the method most convenient for them.
Who does ECHO serve?
ECHO reaches Hispanic, African and SE Asian cultures across the state. Our materials are available
through ECHO TV, ECHO DVD, and ECHO Web in English, Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Somali, Spanish and
Vietnamese. ECHO Phone provides resources in all of these languages, plus Arabic, Oromo and Russian.
How many people does ECHO reach?
• ECHO TV, has 9,500 regular viewers in the Twin Cities metro area alone.
• Each year over 300 people across the state and around the country call ECHO Phone
• Over 2,000 people a month visit ECHO Web
ECHO’s high-quality educational health, safety and emergency preparedness materials are designed to
provide life-saving information that is relevant to limited-English speakers everywhere. So it’s no
surprise that ECHO’s communication tools are used by health and safety agencies, nonprofit organizations
and limited-English speaking communities around the country.
How is ECHO funded?
ECHO’s vital work is made possible entirely through the generosity of our sponsors, supporters, grantmaking organizations, contributions from our partners in local public health and safety agencies —and our
dedicated community volunteers who donate 550 hours of service annually.
How can I support ECHO?
There are many ways that you can contribute to ECHO’s mission. To learn more about giving options,
volunteer opportunities, or to become a partner or program sponsor, contact Lillian McDonald, ECHO
Executive Director, at 651.789.4342 or [email protected].
ECHO Minnesota • c/o Assoc. of MN Counties • 125 Charles Ave. • St. Paul, MN 55103
[p] 651.789.4342 • infoline 888.883.8831 • [email protected] • www.echominnesota.org