Powerhouse Long Islanders turn to the barbershop to drive awareness about life-saving services and support for men

You – or a man in your life – are relaxing in the barber chair. The barber is wearing a pin, or you spot a sign on the mirror, something about cancer awareness, and services available for those receiving treatment, free of charge.

This particular barber is encouraging men to sign up for a potentially life-saving prostate-cancer exam. He’s also certified in providing services to those battling cancer so that they can recharge amid their quest to restore their health.

Powerhouse Long Islanders are on a grassroots mission to empower their neighbors to take charge of their health. It’s a message they share with top Long Island medical organizations, where access to care and education about resources are essential to good health outcomes, especially in underserved communities, where the resources may be less available.

Steering that effort are leaders at both Mondays at Racine and at Women & Men against Prostate Cancer. They have joined forces to effect change and are holding a ribbon-cutting for a new awareness campaign on Monday, Feb. 27, at 5 p.m. at Sir Shave Barber Parlor in Wyandanch.

Leading the effort from Mondays is Karla Waldron, a driving force in directing the organization’s focus on providing free-of-charge health, beauty and wellness services with over 18 providers to those 13 and over who are battling cancer. In this effort, volunteers are “treating the whole person” and “in tandem with hospitals and big oncology centers in the region,” Waldron said.

Maia Salon and Wellness in Smithtown is one of the Mondays at Raceine locations that offers free services to those fighting cancer. Courtesy of Mondays at Racine

Among those leading the charge is Lorraine Pace, Women & Men’s founder and president.  A breast cancer survivor, Pace is credited with creating the nation’s first breast cancer map, having spotted a possible link between her diagnosis and contaminants in the drinking water on her dead-end street in West Islip. Pace’s efforts wound up ultimately replicated across communities in New York and then nationally and internationally. Now she and her team aim to build the same kind of awareness surrounding prostate cancer. Her husband John Pace, a cancer activist and an attorney, died of prostate cancer in 2015.

“If I knew as much about prostate cancer as he knew about breast cancer, he’d be alive today,” she said.

“The majority of the people” that Mondays serves are women, Waldron said. “We’re really trying to inspire and empower the men to walk through our doors.” Women & Men, she said, “works directly with prostate cancer, a men’s cancer. We want to illuminate awareness. They do an excellent job.”

The barber shop is a natural spot to build that awareness.

Both organizations are eager to begin their efforts in Wyandanch, where nearly 60% of the population is Black, according to the most recent estimates published by the U.S. Census Bureau.  African American men are more likely to get prostate cancer than other men, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Barber shops are the heart of the community,” said Errol Toulon, Jr., the first African American to become Suffolk County sheriff and a two-time cancer survivor. “It’s where a lot of people congregate. It’s where you hear what’s going on in the community. People talk about sports. There’s political talk. Sometimes fathers, sons and grandfathers all go to the same barbershop through the generations.”

“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, but when diagnosed early, is highly treatable. African American men and men with a family history of prostate cancer have a significantly higher chance of having prostate cancer,” said Dr. Christopher Atalla, Good Samaritan University Hospital’s director of Men’s Health and Women & Men medical director.

DR. CHRISTOPHER ATALLA: ‘Minorities and those living in underserved areas are especially susceptible due to a lack of access to healthcare and various screening modalities.’ Courtesy of Women & Men against Prostate Cancer

“Minorities and those living in underserved areas are especially susceptible due to a lack of access to healthcare and various screening modalities,” he added. “This is why our community work with Women & Men against Prostate Cancer is crucial to the health and safety of Long Islanders.  Annual exams and PSA checks are crucial to identifying and treating this otherwise silent disease.”

Addressing racial and ethnic disparities in cancer care is a key priority for Northwell Health. The healthcare system has made “inroads in lowering cancer cases and mortality rates have dropped,” Dr. Richard Barakat, physician-in-chief and director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, said in a Queens Chronicle op-ed in December. Still, there are disparities “because of inadequate access to quality care, including routine cancer screenings like colonoscopies and mammograms.” Education and translation services would go a long way to reaching underserved communities, leading to better outcomes, he said.

Toulon said he encourages men to seek out Mondays services because when fighting cancer, “you feel like your body’s betraying you.” The services, he said, “are something that feel normal, and you feel human again.”

Mondays – the organization got its name because typically salons are not open on Mondays, a good day for volunteers to offer services – provides medically approved services, Waldron said. They include facials and skincare, massage, makeup application, gentle head-shaving, scalp treatment, acupuncture, non-toxic hair dye, yoga, reiki, manicures and pedicures, meditation and more.

With that “healing support that surrounds them, they do feel empowered, taking a little back of the control of what’s happened to their body,” Waldron said. “It teaches them that when they are proactive in getting better, they sleep better at night … They lessen the anxiety and impact of the stress of going through cancer.”

Keith Banks, the owner of Sir Shave, is enthusiastic about the organizations, welcoming both into his barbershop.

“When it comes to awareness of cancer in the minority community, it’s a huge concern,” Banks said. In some instances, “there’s a lack of resources and a lack of education. People don’t want to get tested – it’s the fear of the unknown ripple effect.”

Yet, the shop has clients who “have gone through chemotherapy and also unfortunately some who have passed away,” Banks said. “It touches everyone.”

Now, his team is receiving ongoing training from Mondays on how to provide services so that clients “feel loved and connected and respected,” he said.

At the same time, they are prepared to have conversations that encourage clients so that they have the resources to get tested, know their genetic histories or to become “more proactive,” he said.

Earlier awareness might have saved Lorraine Pace’s husband, sparing him “horrible pain,” she said. “He had symptoms going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The doctor said it was because of his water pills …. He should have gone to a urologist.”

At barbershops across the region, ideally, there would be literature about both organizations, serving as conversation-starters.

Lisa Pace, the board attorney for Women & Men said that it would “train the barbers to start talking” to the men, who are “a captive audience” while they are getting groomed.

That makes sense to Banks.

In the barber chair, there’s “that close connection. Those conversations mean a lot,” Banks said. Those 30 minutes could be used spreading the message about a test that could save lives and about a path to an abundance of wellness services and support.

The message, Lisa Pace said, has to reach men in every community. “All men are underserved because of their own doing,” she said, pointing out that men don’t talk enough about getting checked.

That silence is not unlike the days before Lorraine Pace helped bring about breast cancer awareness.

“Same as with the pink ties, sweaters and dresses and have-you-been-checked-for-breast-cancer, we need to have those same conversations about prostate cancer,” said Suffolk County Legis. Steven Flotteron.

And while men may be reluctant to talk about it, the women in their life are not, which is why, Lisa Pace said, “We’re called Women & Men against Prostate Cancer.”

In October, the Suffolk County H. Lee Dennison Building was illuminated blue for Prostate Cancer Awareness month. Women & Men have been sharing information about free screenings around Long Island. And now the group is working on getting a prostate-awareness postage stamp produced, something Lorraine Pace did for breast cancer.

All of this prompts necessary dialog about the path to treatment and wellness.

“I understand people are afraid of a negative diagnosis,” Toulon said.  “But the quicker the diagnosis, the quicker the treatment and hopefully the quicker the road to recovery.”

Meanwhile, Waldron hopes more barbershops will get on board.

“We’re hoping to find more partners across Long Island that will want to join us,” she said.

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