Project Elevation brings free health resources to men in Albany

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – Organizers hosted Project Elevation at Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, offering free screenings and resources aimed at helping men better understand and monitor their health.

The event addressed a stigma around men’s mental and physical health that prevents many from seeking medical care. Project Elevation provided free health screenings in a trusted community space.

“Well, this event helps us decentralize certain aspects of the health care system, put it into community places that are trusted, that are highly valued, but more importantly, getting needed health information out to individuals where it’s actionable, where they then have access to preventive health care services, but then also great information that hopefully they’ll use,” said Brian Rivers, director of Cancer Health Equity Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Health screenings and cancer detection

Men from around the community had their blood pressure checked. High blood pressure can cause heart disease, kidney disease and an increased chance of a stroke, according to medical officials.

They were also screened for prostate cancer. The CDC says about 255,000 men in the U.S. get diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

Rivers said the screenings have produced significant results.

“It was great, and I really appreciate Phoebe and her leadership in the community, really engaging the community, trying to see how we can best get this information out, but even more importantly, get these necessary screenings out. And to date, we screened over one thousand eight hundred men in the community for prostate cancer with over thirty cancers that have been detected,” Rivers said.

The event also offered free haircuts for those in need.

Sterling Hunter, a Project Elevation volunteer, encouraged hesitant men to get checked out for their families.

“You got to think about it. Everybody has a family and nobody wants to lose their loved ones. When it comes to men. Just come in. I mean, it’s just a simple blood test. Um, not only are we checking for prostate cancer, we’re also checking for, um, high blood pressure. So we’re checking blood pressures and, uh, you know, anything that we can do to make sure that you’re staying healthy and you’re around for years to come with your family,” Hunter said.

The goal of Project Elevation is that men around the community take what they learned and feel more comfortable talking about what they’re going through and getting the help they need.

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