According to residents in Portsmouth, two of the city's major issues are poverty and crime. Those aren't new problems—they've existed for years. While they can't be fixed overnight, residents told News 3 they want to be reassured that elected officials are hearing their concerns.
In Portsmouth, the citizens believe it takes a village to raise a child, and part of that responsibility falls on the elected officials, especially newly elected ones.
"In general, everyone knows that politicians will make promises to get into office," said Ricky Gaan, a business owner in Portsmouth.
Gaan said many of his employees have felt the impact of some of Portsmouth's greatest issues like poverty and crime.
"We have one employee that lost not one, but two brothers due to gun violence," Gaan said. "For my employee's sake, I wish they could find an environment where they could go home and not feel like they have to be on guard so much."
Eugene Swinson, the director, and co-founder of the nonprofit Big Homies said he grew up in Portsmouth with crime and poverty. He said he's been on both sides of a loaded gun. But for the last 15 to 20 years, his non-profit has helped kids in his community break away from a vicious cycle of violence and crime.
Swinson said, often, he looks back on his younger years and relates to many of his kids.
"I just adapted to this environment that I chose to be in," he said. "So when I see some of the kids that are doing some of this stuff today, I don't look at them the same way someone who may not have been through what I've been through. I look at them like 'he don't really want to do that, maybe if I gave him another alternative or something else to do maybe he would stop'."
Swinson said his group has been successful in providing support and opportunities to kids and teens. What has helped is the crime rates in Portsmouth have improved over the previous year.
"When it peaked last summer, I think it was a slow response," he said. "The new problem was the age, it wasn't the crime itself or how frequent it was and how young they were victims and perpetrators."
With new leadership in Portsmouth City Council, residents are wondering if the success will continue."
"The new people who just got elected need to do more of what the current councilors do," he said. "To me, it's going to the neighborhoods because you don't know how much a person needs help. Everybody is prideful. There have been times when I've needed help and haven't said anything to anybody."
Swinson is optimistic things will change, but the only proof, he said, will be an upheld promise.
Big Homies in Portsmouth oversees several different programs like an after-school program, 24-hour crisis assistance and a mentoring program.
