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Thursday night, Salute Selma, Inc. contributed to the health and wellness of those locally by hosting its healthcare pre-mass meeting in honor of the Queen City’s Bridge Crossing Jubilee and its civil rights efforts, approaching 60 years.

The event also commemorated the efforts of the good Samaritan nurses, who each day play a pivotal part within the community, saving and restoring the health of those in need.

The first half of the meeting consisted of a “healthcare fair” where several businesses and organizations came together to conduct health screenings and talk about how they can work together to continue the effort of better health.

“We’re just so honored to have a continuation of our Selma 60 celebration and commemoration and today, we are focused solely on healthcare. From 4 to 7 p.m. in the fellowship hall of the Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church, several organizations will be providing free health screenings that will identify the signs of hypertension, diabetes and bring awareness to stroke prevention,” said State Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma.

Stewart said there was a lot of heart health support within the event as well.

Dr. Constance Smith, who is the Health and Human Services Chair of The Selma Chapter of The Links Inc., discussed Black K.A.R.E. with the residents of Selma, in which she said the acronym “K.A.R.E.”, stands for Kidney Awareness, Resources and Education.

“First of all, we want to remind everybody that they have kidneys,” Smith said. “A lot of people don’t really know they have kidneys, unless they start having problems, but everybody typically is born with two, so we try to keep them healthy.

“But should they begin to have decreased kidney function, then it’s not really reversible, so we try to slow it down beforehand and there are things that we can do to try to stay on the healthy side of things and not start that slippery slope.”

Smith said the Selma Links Chapter is the only chapter in the State of Alabama under the Links organization to receive the funding to promote Black care.

“So, it is our responsibility to spread the word across our service area, which encompasses six surrounding counties,” Smith said.

Like Smith and the local Links organization chapter, The Dallas County Health Department County Administrator Sarina Stewart spoke to the public about the different sectors of health they can take advantage of.

“We have family planning services, we have WIC, we also have a well woman program that focuses on healthy lifestyle choices and today, we have our IPC team which stands for Infection, prevention and Control and they are doing free flu and COVID vaccines,” Smith said.

Stewart also said that the health department also has information on nutrition, healthy eating habits and information for new moms geared toward babies and kids’ health including vital statistics where they can come and get their birth, death or marriage certificate.

Stewart also spoke of a home health program here in Dallas County that they have as well. Smith wants the public to know that they are here and available to serve all residents of Dallas County.

Facilities like Rural Health, the Selma sector of Live Health Smart Alabama organization including a healthy heart driven organization known as JoyED, was also at the event among other organizations such as the Chi Eta Phi Sorority that educated those within the community about the importance of saving a life through CPR.

During the mass meeting portion of the event, all attendees including the participants of the health fair joined within the sanctuary of the church to officially start the most historic part of the evening.

“The whole point of this healthcare mass meeting is that we want our people to have and take ownership of their healthcare. We don’t have to be a statistic and you don’t have to suffer alone,” said Stewart. “We are in some very precarious times, but the only way we are going to overcome, if we are in community.”

Several members of the community were in attendance for the mass meeting including Selma City Council President Warren Billy Young, State Rep. Prince Chestnut (D-Selma), the Rev. Labarron Mack and Dr. Scott Harris of the Alabama State Health Officer among many others.

Johnny Moss III, President of Selma City School Board, greeted the public alongside Keshee Dozier Smith, who is the CEO of Rural Health Medical Program, Inc.; Dexter Hinton, who is the Mayor of Marion; and the Rev. Lawrence Wofford, who is the Selma/Dallas Branch NAACP President.

There was also a candle lighting tribute to Jimmie Lee Jackson from his neighbor at the time, Ms. Frances Ford for his civil rights efforts in 1965 despite his tragic passing on Feb. 18 of that same year.

Following the tribute, Stewart gave out the Lula Edwards Courage Awards to the Good Samaritan nurses of evening starting with Yvonne Hatcher, Constance Hendrix, Shirley Richardson, Diane Brown-Mitchell, Louise James Coleman, Ethel McCampbell, Doris Washington, Ira Austin and Rosalind K. Wilks, among other nurse recipients who were present at the meeting in honor of his maternal grandmother, Lula Edwards and her efforts as a Samaritan nurse.

Keynote speaker Michelle Browder spoke to the public as well surrounding the topic of healthcare and how African Americans should come together, lay hands through prayer on the sick and continue to advocate for their needs regarding the wellbeing of their health.

Concluding the mass meeting, there was a healthcare access panel discussion held with Dr. Tracey Shannon, Dr. Carol J. Ratcliffe, Dr. Herman Turner, Joy D. Polk and Dr. Jasmine M. Robinson to allow the public to get to know the health professionals better while giving them a chance to ask their questions and concerns surrounding the topic of healthcare.