Meet the Founder

Tonica Parks is a graduate of East Carolina University. She graduated with a dual degree Social Work and Public Health Studies with a minor in Child and Family Relations. Tonica started the SC Youth Center at the age of 28. She dedicated her time to working with the youth in the community starting in 2015 as a mentor with a previous employee. She noticed many of the unmet needs of the youth in the community and wanted to do something to help.

Tonica came up with the idea to have a program to help meet the unmet needs of the youth in the community. She wanted to provide programs where youth can learn through experience, then in 2016 she made her dream a reality by opening up the S.C Youth Center.

She came up with the name of the youth center in honor of both of grandmothers who she lived with as a young girl, Sylvia (maternal grandmother) and Chardia (paternal grandmother), she wanted to offer opportunities that she had as a child. She wanted to show the love to other children that she received as a child. 

"A Grandmother's love is an unconditional love like no other, just being in the presence of my grandmothers warms my heart like fresh brownies out of the oven, my whole soul smiles when i'm with my them "

                                                                                           ~Tonica