A barber for about 30 years, Raymond Aldridge, who owns Nappy Roots Barber Salon in Riverside, is now offering something beyond a good haircut.
He’s offering clients a chance to check their blood pressure — a condition that impacts Black residents five times more than White residents.
Aldridge is one of a handful of Inland Empire barbershop owners partnering with the nonprofit Healthy Heart Nation, which provides resources and education in African American communities. It launched the Pressure Project in February, during Black History Month.
The initiative will place blood-pressure machines inside Inland churches and Black-owned barber shops so employees can use them with their clientele. The program is also training barbershop staffs to use the machines and to suggest online education, nutritional tips and local resources.
“I wanted to give back to the community,” Aldridge said. “I wanted to be a part of this. Giving back is everything.”
On Thursday Feb, 23, Justin Daily, 44, sat in Aldridge’s chair.
A nursing student who lives in Riverside County, Daily took advantage of the machine standing near the barber’s chair and measured his blood pressure.
George Rencher, 55, took the next chair and also had Aldridge take his blood pressure.
“It’s a great idea because you know people don’t always go to the doctor’s office and you’re making it more common,” said Rencher, who lives in Lake Elsinore.
Inland barbershops receiving a machine also include Authentic Cutz Barber Shop in Moreno Valley and Thee Latest Barbershop in Rancho Cucamonga.
Two Riverside churches — Mt. Rubidoux Seventh-day Adventist Church, at 5320 Victoria Ave., and Kansas Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church, at 4491 Kansas Ave. — are also part of the project.
Additionally, Healthy Heart Nation has an online tool that aids in healthy eating called Diet ID, a YouTube channel and blood-pressure fact sheets from the American Heart Association.
High blood pressure, or…
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