Meet Leo Cox
Leo Cox was happy to smile in this selfie with his daughter, Shamoneik Sutton, after receiving a new smile with the help of People FirstUSI.
A new smile gives Leo Cox something to be happy about.
Since 2019, People FirstUSI has worked nonstop to enhance the quality of life for Tidewater Gardens residents using a holistic approach that focuses on the family through the prism of four pillars – education, housing stability, health and wellness, and economic mobility.
In 2021-22, Year 3, the initiative’s track record of success continued as more families moved to temporary or permanent homes, obtained medical and dental care, earned higher wages with better-paying jobs, and returned to classrooms as pandemic restrictions eased.
People FirstUSI is a program created by the City of Norfolk, which hired Urban Strategies, Inc., to implement it. The goal: Help transform the lives of Tidewater Gardens’ families as the community is being redeveloped, working with a broad network of nonprofit, government, and private providers to secure the resources and services families need to become stable and thrive.
The goal is to enable families to strengthen their resilience and provide them with a renewed sense of hope while respecting their decisions about where they want to live both during and after Tidewater Gardens is transformed.
For Leo Cox, it means smiling broadly for the first time in years without being ashamed of his teeth. Or lack thereof. Mr. Cox was fortunate to receive a full set of dentures last September at Hampton Roads Community Health Center. For the first time in his life, Mr. Cox had dental insurance at Hampton Roads that he was able to secure with the assistance of his family-support staff member at People FirstUSI, Lashanda Riddick. Although the community center typically charges clients on a sliding-fee scale based on ability to pay, Tidewater Gardens residents don’t have to pay a dime; People FirstUSI picks up the tab. After about nine months of dental visits, Mr. Cox walked out of the dentist’s office with a pearly white smile he describes as “beautiful.”
“It was a good experience,” he says.
In May 2021, Mr. Cox moved from Tidewater Gardens to a two-bedroom unit in a community that has amenities such as a swimming pool and community room. “It’s so nice,” Mr. Cox says. Meanwhile, he continues to enjoy his smile and home while debating whether he’ll move back to the new community of Kindred.