In Newport News, public service can begin with a simple question: Where do I go for help?

For Gee Eley, a 37-year-old employee in the city’s clerk’s office, answering that question means more than directing someone to a desk or a form.

It means listening carefully, explaining unfamiliar processes and making sure residents feel respected when they ask for help.

That approach carries beyond the workday into community outreach across the city he calls home.

Eley supports school-supply giveaways, youth programs, career fairs, food distributions and events for older residents.

Through the What’s Next Initiative, he also helps connect people with training, industry certifications, employment prospects and career guidance.

Those connections matter because finding an opportunity is not always as easy as knowing one exists.

Across Hampton Roads, residents may need help navigating separate systems for jobs, housing, training and other essential support.

Eley wants to see a clearer path between those resources and sustainable employment.

Community outreach and workforce development work best when people can actually reach the help available to them.

His motivation is personal.

He credits his mother, Melvia Eley, and the example left by his late father, Gee Eley Sr., with shaping his commitment to others.

His brother James and sister Jillian remain important parts of his life.

That family grounding informs his message to young people: a difficult beginning does not have to dictate what comes next.

He encourages them to seek mentors, build skills and keep going through setbacks.

Looking ahead, Eley hopes to lead programs that strengthen families and create stronger routes to economic stability.

For now, the work is immediate: helping one resident find the right answer, then making sure the next person can, too.