So Much Good in the Hood: Dr. Shanta Barton-Stubbs and New Image Youth Center

Written by: Daysia Peoples

Every vibrant tapestry of a community will have essential stitches that threads the neighborhood together. For Parramore, one of these is Dr. Shanta Barton-Stubbs, Founder of New Image Youth Center.

At the age of 21, Dr. Stubbs started the youth center. After her father’s relocation to Paramore to establish a church, she recognized the urgent need to support the local youth. Witnessing children pushing grocery carts into the street, she took action by inviting them to join her in a game of Monopoly. What began as a simple gesture evolved into a regular gathering, laying the foundation for the impactful work of the New Image Youth Center.

Today, the center stands on five pillars of support: academic success, health and fitness, social development, crisis intervention, and social justice. Dr. Stubbs states, “Our community knows that we’re a consistent structure that is here to help guide them, advocate for them, to help provide for them when they’re in need and to give them the extra culture and mentoring that is needed.”

The New Image Youth Center distinguishes itself through its diverse range of offerings, from mental health counseling to mentoring programs and the award-winning Ladies of Destiny Step Team. Dr. Stubbs emphasizes their innovative approach, notably the “Bringing our Good to Your Hood” initiative, facilitated by their activity bus. The activity bus provides play therapy such as video games and board games, and mental health support to participants in communities such as Pine Hills and Oak Ridge. She explains that the program means “taking our good to other hoods.” 

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This youth center serves as a safe haven for kids in the Parramore community, providing a secure environment for their growth. It directly contributes to youth success, such as a young lady who attend New Image Youth Center and graduated college top of her class while doing track. She recently became an Orlando police department officer and get to serve her Parramore family, while her New Image family celebrates her accomplishments back home.

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This youth center not only supports children, but also provides services up until the age of 24, including scholarship mentorship, tutoring, and other job preparation. Dr. Stubbs is a pillar of support for individuals in the Parramore community, and so if you support the New Image Youth Center, you are supporting the next generation of this vibrant neighborhood! Help support the center by donating through their website newimageyouth.org or to sign up to be a volunteer.