WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King announced My Place Teen Center has been awarded $650,000 through the Fiscal Year 2024 Congressionally-Directed Spending (CDS) appropriations package to support year-round youth development programs that specialize in dealing with trauma and addressing youth hunger. This funding will be used to help mitigate adverse childhood experiences, transform a debilitated church into a community space for teens, expand current programs, and address teen food insecurity and substance abuse.

The funding is part of the $454 Million — for 185 projects — that Senator King secured for Maine in the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Package.

“Over the past several years unprecedented challenges have contributed to declines in mental health for young people across Maine,” said Senator King. “Traumas that hurt now can have lingering impacts that last a lifetime if they aren’t addressed. By giving our children a safe space to heal and grow alongside a steady support system, we are setting them up for a brighter, healthier tomorrow.”

"The nuts and bolts of the $650,000 award mean the furnishings, fixtures, equipment, security system, IT, and phone system - the final pieces of a $3.7MM renovation - are now feasible—a herculean transformation from a former 17,000 square-foot shuttered church to a state-of-the-art Teen Center - in downtown Biddeford. Changing the trajectory of vulnerable, young lives is at the heart of keeping kids safe, fed, and loved. This significant gift is a harbinger of hope for thousands of Maine youth," said President and CEO Donna Dwyer.

Senator King is a supportive of providing additional resources to bolster mental health services youth across Maine. This past fall, he introduced bipartisan legislation to promote health childhoods for children across the country. In 2020, Senator King introduced the Social-Emotional Learning for Families (SELF) Act to provide additional resources to support the mental health and safety of children and improve educational outcomes for students.

The 185 FY24 Maine investments secured by the entire Maine delegation can be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet HERE and viewed on a map HERE.

CDS funding is included in annual federal appropriations legislation and provides a specific amount of discretionary funding to a state, locality, or nonprofit organization for projects with demonstrated civic and community value. Last year, Senator King secured over $250 million in Congressionally-Directed Spending for 140 Maine projects.

Senator King is now accepting applications for FY25 Maine-based Congressionally-Directed Spending projects. Details on the FY25 CDS opportunity are available on Senator King’s website.

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