My Place Teen Center in Biddeford is already a success following its opening in December. Contributed / MPTC

My Place Teen Center (MPTC) is providing a warm, safe place for teens in downtown Biddeford. Since opening in December, the center has been seeing anywhere from 60 to 80 kids a day, President and CEO Donna Dwyer said.

“The kids have been piling in,” Dwyer told the Courier. “We expected that and anticipated that.”

The program is open to any kids in the area, not just Biddeford residents, although Dwyer said approximately 90% of the kids come from Biddeford.

The space, which is located in the former St. Andres church on Bacon Street, is what Dwyer calls “a safe haven” for kids ages 10-18, serving homemade meals and providing learning opportunities in four major areas.

Through a restaurant job training program, kids can help the in-house chef make meals from scratch, honing their skills. In a “Making Proud Choices” group, kids learn about sexual wellbeing, learning how to say “no,” and anything else having to do with healthy choices regarding their bodies and making good decisions.

In the Youth Leadership Academy, kids are trained on how to be good leaders, and in Civic Engagement, kids get out into the community to volunteer.

Over the summer, volunteers will garden in the Biddeford community, but they also help the city by picking up trash and volunteering in other ways.

“In the short term, it’s keeping them safe, fed, warm, and loved,” Dwyer said. “In the long term, we’re scaffolding skill sets so they can become healthy, functioning, accountable adults.”

My Place Teen Center serves up to 80 meals per day. Contributed / MPTC

MPTC is already successful, with most kids returning day after day.

“It speaks volumes,” Dwyer said. “Given their loud enthusiasm while they’re here, they’re definitely expressing that they’re happy to be here.”

The journey to creating MPTC took 11 years from start to finish, Biddeford Mayor Martin Grohman said, with renovations beginning in 2023.

The nonprofit also runs a center in Westbrook, providing year-round support for kids suffering from extreme poverty, neglect, or abuse.

“This one took heart and soul,” Grohman said. “I just love that now we have a place that teens can visit daily to connect, learn, and grow, and be part of community spirit.”

The Biddeford community is impressed with the center, Dwyer said. Every time MPTC gives a tour, people are “genuinely flabbergasted” with how the center turned out.

St. Andres church was a place that transformed and sometimes saved lives, Dwyer said. MPTC is doing the same thing.

“This is its new iteration,” Dwyer said. “It’s just a real gem within the city.”

MPTC is open year-round, five days a week.