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Every year, Tonie McMurray goes in for his physical. In between, he’ll visit community health clinics, including one at a place known for being as concerned about how their customers feel as how they look: Gee’s Clippers.
For more than five years, Gee’s Wellness Clinic has offered free screenings to anyone who comes in. Through partnerships with Network Health and Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, health professionals at the pop-up check blood pressure, give general nutrition and health advice, and connect clients to resources.
The 71-year-old McMurray says the clinics have been invaluable, including a past visit that ultimately helped save his life. “I learned about colon cancer … and went and got my test, found out I did have prostate cancer,” he recalled. “That was from an event that took place right here.”
The clinics started as a way to help fill an access gap in the community. Now, they’re part of an even larger mission: Gee’s MKE Foundation.
After 30+ years serving Milwaukee, Gee’s Clippers owner Gaulien “Gee” Smith officially launched his nonprofit in March, expanding his focus on wellness, mentorship and health disparities within underserved communities of color.
“It’s important to recognize the influence you have in the community, and that’s what I did,” Smith said. “I decided to use that influence to try to get as many men in particular, but women as well, tested early for colon cancer, prostate cancer, knowing if they have hypertension or pre-diabetic.”
Smith was inspired by the loss of his father, who at 62 died as a result of complications from colon cancer. He said his dad had never gotten a colonoscopy, tried diagnosing himself and ended up in extreme abdominal pain.
“When he went to the doctor, we found out he had advanced, stage-four colon cancer, and he lived a short time after that — not even six months,” Smith recalled. “And nobody should really die from colon cancer. It’s a preventable illness, one of the most preventable cancers, along with prostate cancer. You just gotta go get the screenings.”
When caught early, remission from colon or prostate cancer is relatively high. The American Cancer Society puts five-year survival rates at around 90%, depending on when and where the disease is found. Smith is working on a different kind of “where” to help improve those numbers even more.
“I would love to normalize clinics in barbershops, all across the country,” he said. “It’s needed. You’ve got way too many guys dying too early from preventable illnesses.”
Smith’s network supports events like the long-standing “Real Men – Real Talk” series, back-to-school drives, voter initiatives and more. As for the foundation, he said it will support four main initiatives a year: a mental-health workshop, a 5K walk/run, a blood drive and a pre-screening event.
The consistent, positive outreach is something many people value, including McMurray.
“A lot of the things that Gee does, including what we’re witnessing today, is not something that we would automatically put on our calendars to go and do,” he said. “So, in addition to this being convenient for us, it also puts it in our face so that we’ll go ahead and address it.”
