The Lisbon Street center plans an open house Thursday.

LEWISTON – A group that helps hundreds of local teenagers find a safe place to live has been awarded more than $164,000 in federal grants.

New Beginnings Street Outreach Program and its companion shelter were among fewer than 50 such agencies in the country to receive the money, awarded from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“It’s a huge boost to us,” said Robert Rowe, New Beginnings’ executive director.

The money will make up a large part of the agency’s $400,000 annual budget. It’s all aimed at helping kids who are either homeless or could be soon.

“As one of the state’s few programs for homeless teenagers, it offers teens services and a safe environment that aren’t always available elsewhere,” Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said Tuesday in a prepared statement. “We’re pleased this money will help continue the center’s work.”

For 23 years, New Beginnings has run a Main Street shelter for young people ages 12 to 17. Kids can stay there for as long as three weeks, while workers try to either mediate disputes at home or find someplace new.

More recently, the agency has run its outreach program for kids 14 to 21. The drop-in clinic at 245 Lisbon St. is there to offer kids a meal and a shower or just somebody to talk to. Workers also walk and ride through area neighborhoods, looking for teens who might need a hand.

“We do a lot of services to help find that population,” Rowe said. “There aren’t many people who do what we do.”

The federal money is a combination of two grants: $100,000 for the outreach program and $64,000 for the shelter. The smaller grant is the first piece of a three-year award. The larger grant is the final one of a three-year, $300,000 award.

“There is a lot of competition for this money,” Rowe said. “At the end of three years, you start all over again.”



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