Usher Returns to Home State of Tennessee to Volunteer His Service Through Usher’s New Look & Powered by Service

Usher’s New Look Announces $25,000 Grant to C.OP.S. for Tennessee Youth to Be Powered by Service

“Scott family” — On October 17, 2009, Usher Raymond IV and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” traveled to Clarksville, Tennessee to give Trina Scott and her three daughters the good news that their problem-ridden home would be rebuilt in just seven days. This episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will air SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on ABC.

Trina, 44, met her husband Dave while he was serving with U.S. Army Special Forces in Fort Bragg – and it was love at first sight.

After his discharge, Dave became a Clarksville police officer. In 2002, he and his partner were on duty when their police car was violently struck by a truck. The car spun out of control, hit a guardrail, caught fire and killed both Dave and his partner almost instantly. Overwhelmed with grief, Trina turned to a group called Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (C.O.P.S.), which helps the surviving family members of officers killed in the line of duty. Inspired by the help she received from C.O.P.S., Trina devoted all of her free time to the organization and became its President in 2003. The time that Trina dedicates to C.O.P.S. represents essentially a full-time job, and that’s on top of the full time job she works to support her three daughters — Leyla, 17, Deidie, 13, and Alethea, 11. Trina has spent more than $20,000 on the mounting repairs to her small home, but the structural problems caused by termites and water damage remain.

Usher Raymond IV was on hand to help with the build, but mostly to recognize and support the family’s dedication to giving back. Usher’s non-profit foundation—Usher’s New Look—awarded the Scott family $25,000 to continue their legacy of service and give back to the community in an even bigger way. Usher’s New Look has been working for the past 10 years to support young people to use their talents and creativity to become corporate and community leaders.

The work of the Foundation now expands to Tennessee where the Scott daughters and their peers at C.O.P.S. will use the funds provided by Usher’s New Look to give out small grants of $500 to other youth to start community service and social entrepreneurship projects. This youth to youth grant-making project is a part of Usher’s New Look’s Powered by Service initiative, which encourages young people to utilize their talents and passions to make a difference in their community.

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Usher kicks off his annual Camp New Look this week. The two-week program brings in kids from all over the country to Atlanta and focuses on service leadership and social entrepreneurship.

Campers will learn the importance of citizen power and the origins of personal power.

In a two-day Power Summit, Usher explains, campers will take an in-depth look at relevant social issues and design campaigns utilizing their artistic talents and abilities to bring awareness to the issue. Once campers return to their home cities, they will utilize their personal power to implement the service campaigns and to incite local youth into action.

“When I started New Look I had reached a point where writing a check for charitable causes just wasn’t enough,” Usher says. “I wanted to know that I’ve made a difference in a child’s life; that I’ve significantly used my own talents, passion and resources to impact the lives of young people (and ultimately their families and communities) in positive and stable ways.”

This year’s theme is Issue, Action…Power! and it’s interwoven throughout the business component curriculum as well as the sports and entertainment components.

“Through Camp New Look, we are creating new paths of entry and opportunities to learn and improve skills and are supporting the growth and success of young people from disadvantage circumstances,” Usher shares.

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It may be over for Usher and Tameka Foster. The R&B star and his wife of nearly two years are reportedly in the process of divorcing.

“The papers haven’t been filed yet, but we had a telephone conversation last week with an attorney asking how to file for them,” a clerk with Cobb County Superior Court in Georgia told The News’ Nancy Dillon. The employee added that she wasn’t sure which party the lawyer represented, or who had instigated the proceedings.

Reports surfaced yesterday that the singer and his wife had been living separately for the past year. News of the split came a mere four months after Foster suffered cardiac arrest during routine cosmetic surgery in Brazil. Usher flew to South America to be at his wife’s side, but the two have not been photographed together since February.

One thing is clear: Usher hasn’t been happy for some time. In March, he told pals he was dissatisfied with his marriage. “He was tired of how demanding she is. He always had to cater to her constant insecurities,” says one friend. “But now he’s ready to move on and take care of his kids [Usher Raymond V, 18 months, and Naviyd, 6 months].”

Confirms a second insider, “Everyone close to Usher knew how unhappy he was. [Tameka] is crazy. His mother didn’t even go to their wedding because she didn’t approve!”

Usher’s mom, Jonnetta Patton, has reportedly disliked Foster since day one — and the feeling may have been mutual. Just three months before the couple’s August 2007 wedding, Patton was dismissed from her job as Usher’s manager, with many blaming Foster for the firing.

Last week, the “Yeah!” warbler tellingly went wedding-ringless at the Do Something Awards in NYC. Although he wore sunglasses throughout the entire event, “Usher seemed to be in great spirits,” says an eyewitness.

A rep for Usher and Foster did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

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USHER found out the hard way that the paparazzi presence in Miami is becoming just as bad as in LA. The R&B crooner went down there last week with his toddler kid Usher V to relax and spend some father-son quality time on the beach, but was immediately bombarded by the snappers. Usher put his 10-month-old offspring back on a plane to Atlanta and later that night, while hanging out at Mansion, told friends, “I was rattled — I just need to unwind.”

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WHILE Usher is in Las Vegas recording his next album, his wife, Tameka Foster, is not very happy about being left in Atlanta with their kids, Usher Raymond V and Naviyd Ely. “Tameka is really upset that she was asked not to come to Vegas with Usher in December when he left to work on his next album,” said an industry insider. “She tried to have so much influence over his last project that this time, the people involved with the record said she had to stay away.” Our tipster added, “Tameka’s keeping her distance seems to be helping Usher,” who recently got a full-length arm tattoo featuring various members of his family. His rep insists, “Usher and Tameka have a solid relationship and she understands the demands of his recording schedule. He’s been in the studio with Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri working hard on his next album.”

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Usher and wife Tameka have welcomed another boy, his rep confirms said exclusively.

Naviyd Ely Raymond was born at 2:33 a.m. Wednesday and weighed 5 lbs, 13 oz. Their first son, Usher Raymond V, turned 1 on Nov. 26.

“Tameka and the baby are doing fine,” a rep for the singer tells Us.

The R&B singer, 30, confirmed he and Foster, whom he wed in 2007, were expecting last month.

“Definitively. We’re actually expecting, if you didn’t hear, in December” he told Access Hollywood. “One of the best Christmas gifts there is to have!”

A month before the boy was born, he told Access that they said they still hadn’t settled on a name.

“There are a few names,” he added. “But if you guys have any unique one, please feel free to hit me up. Let me know.”

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Turns out Usher’s still a mama’s boy.

The R&B hitmaker has dumped Hollywood power broker Benny Medina and rehired mom Jonnetta Patton as his manager, E! News has exclusively learned.

“With an artist like Usher, the bar is set really high,” Medina tells E! News. “Whether it was management, marketing or the music, we achieved a No. 1 single and a No. 1 album…I had a great time and we parted ways amicably.”
The behind-the-scenes shakeup also saw the voluntary departure of publicist Patti Webster. “I was not fired,” she tells E! News.

Sources say the Medina split is a direct result of disappointing record sales for the team’s first and only collaboration, Here I Stand.

“The record is pretty stiff, and nowhere nearly as successful as Confessions,” an insider says, referring to the singer’s 2004 blockbuster.

Confessions was a worldwide sensation, selling 19 million copies under the supervision of Patton. After debuting at No. 1 in June, Here I Stand, Usher’s fifth studio album, has chalked up a comparatively paltry 2 million in sales worldwide. This, despite the radio success of the single “Love in This Club (Part II).”

Adds Medina: “It is a completely new day and time in music now. In four years, his audience, demographic, and musical direction has changed. Records like Lil Wayne’s ‘Lollipop’ are the type of phenomena that ‘Yeah’ was in 2004.”
There was no immediate comment from Usher or Patton.

Usher dumped the momager for Medina last year amid reports of tension between wife Tameka Foster and Patton—and considering his previous remarks, it might be tough going home again.

“This is great for me because it means I now get to have my mother strictly as my mother, with no added pressure,” the one-named wonder, whose last name is Raymond, told the Associated Press in 2007, when he and Patton parted ways.

And just last month, the 29-year-old entertainer was quoted in Vibe magazine calling his mom an “aggressive person” who made his decision to part ways difficult.

“I hurt more than anything over these last two years, when I felt my mother didn’t really embrace my situation,” Usher told Vibe.

News of the switcheroo also comes after Usher’s rep shot down rumors that he and Foster were having marital issues.
While it remains to be seen whether Patton still has the multiplatinum touch when it comes to guiding her son’s career, Medina’s probably not hurting too much.

His current stable includes Nicole Richie, Mariah Carey and Rupert Everett. He has also previously helped call the shots for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Tyra Banks and Sean “Diddy” Combs.

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Usher makes a pit stop at MTV’s TRL to promote the new album.

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