The Empowerment Network marks a decade of men praying, supporting and being there for one another through one of a man’s toughest challenges, while encouraging testing for early detection of prostate cancer to save lives.
It started in St. Louis when a man thought to be too young to have such a disease made a promise to God.
“If He just heal my body and restore my health and give me a second chance after being given two years to live, I would spend the rest of my life helping men diagnosed with this insidious disease called prostate cancer,” said Mellve Shahid, co-founder of The Empowerment Network. “My helping truly became my healing … I just never knew it would grow into the organization that it is today.”
As he helped others, Shahid said it helped him to heal. When he looked in the community for support for men undergoing treatment and healing from this disease, he found a void – one that he was uniquely qualified to fill.
Shahid said he started reaching out to other men who were diagnosed. He joined 100 Black Men and became a part of its Prostate Cancer Walk, which gave him the outlet to start dealing with more prostate cancer survivors.
“As I dealt with the survivors there at the walk, I could hear the psychological and the emotional pains that they carried – I could hear it in their conversation,” Shahid said. “The walk was good, but the walk was not satisfying the pains that they carried within them. They needed support.”
He reached out to the American Cancer Society, but at that time it did not have a support group for men in the urban community, he said. “And I reached out to other organizations,” he said, “and nowhere in the St. Louis community was there a support mechanism for men.”
Therefore, he created one. The Empowerment Network was started by Shahid and his friend and the organization’s late cofounder, Isadore Wayne Sr.
“We started our support group, and it just blossomed and grew from there,” Shahid said, “then we started the organization.”
The Empowerment Network’s support group meetings take place at 10 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of each month at the Metropolitan Village Apartments, 3114 Franklin Ave. in St. Louis, 63106. The meetings are open to all men and families.
Shaheed said its network of volunteers has touched the lives of more than 20,000 men in the St. Louis area in the last decade.
“And this was not planned. I don’t want to take credit for any of this,” Shahid said. “This was God’s plan, and I really feel strongly that the Empowerment Network is God’s gift to the St. Louis community.”
The organization reports it conducts over 1,600 free PSA tests at 86 community outreach events annually. When tests results are abnormal, follow-up medical care comes from facilities such as the Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers.
“They have been a jewel to our organization,” Shahid said. “They have been there every step of the way with us, whether we got money or not. That’s what has made The Empowerment Network truly a blessing in the community, because God has blessed us with so many great friends and partners.”
Additional partners include Saint Louis University, Washington University, Zero Prostate Cancer Foundation and St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer.
The organization’s Cancer Information Center is located at 6000 W. Florissant Ave. Health information at the office covers prevention tips for men and women, along with healthier eating and lifestyle changes for wellness.
“It’s not just the men,” Shahid said, “it’s the families that we have helped.”
Each week on the Empowerment Network’s Healthy Focus Radio Show on WGNU Radio, Shahid and his team cover a gamut of health topics with physicians and other health professionals in the St. Louis community.
This year, the organization started expanding its reach deeper into North St. Louis County and into the Metro East. It recently collaborated with the city of Moline Acres and its police department, who are wearing caps to promote prostate cancer awareness.
“They also have information that they are passing out to some of the men in the Moline Acres community about prostate awareness – some of the literature based on the risk factors and warning signs around prostate cancer,” Shahid said. “Eventually, we want to get that whole North County area involved in this awareness campaign.”
On the East Side, their partners include the St. Claire County Health District, the East Side Health District and Conquerors Christian Center. They are planning a free community health fair for Saturday, November 3 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Clyde C. Jordan Center, 6555 State St., in East St. Louis.Â
The Empowerment Network will mark its 10th anniversary with a Diamond Gala on Friday, September 28, with entertainment by the Coleman Hughes Project.
It will honor some of its supporters with its “Wind Beneath Our Wings” awards: Ricardo Wray, Saint Louis University School of Public Health and Social Justice; Margie Price, executive director, St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer; Dwayne Butler, president/CEO, People’s Health Centers; David Bryan, M.D., St. Louis Urological Surgeons; Anthony DiGasbarro, district manager, The Sherwin-Williams Co.; Mary Hill, community affairs director, KTVI/KPLR-FOX 2; Rick Stevens, president, Christian Hospital; Sarah Post, senior immunotherapy sales specialist, Dendreon; Iary Israel, president, The Steppers, Word of Mouth Entertainment, Inc.; Ethel Gates, president, Women Fighting Against Prostate Cancer; Rep.-Elect, Hon. Chris Carter Sr., president, CCC & C; Leona Stokes, clinical coordinator, Department of Surgery, Christian Hospital; Sandra Jordan, assistant managing editor, The St. Louis American; and Rev. Anthony Witherspoon for the Washington Metropolitan AME Zion Church Board.
The gala is the 4th Annual Isadore M. Wayne Sr. Memorial event, Friday, September 28, 6-10 p.m. at the Christian Hospital Atrium in the Detrick Building, 11133 Dunn Road in St. Louis, 63136.
Tickets are $75. “The proceeds really help to keep the doors of our cancer information and educational center open,” Shahid said.
For more information on the gala or The Empowerment Network, call 314-385-0998 or visit theempowermentnetwork.net.
