ROCKLAND – The doors have been unlocked. Menus are in contemplation, and soon, at-risk and homeless teens in Rockland will again see a place at the table. For a city with the resources to assist homeless adults and families, as well as young children, the oft invisible teenagers are again being welcomed out of the shadows.

Thursday, Aug. 17, Joseph Hufnagel, program director, and Britta Sturks, director of outreach, cut the ribbon to 61 Park Street’s The Landing Place teen resource center, a program of the Knox County Homeless Coalition.

“We already have shelters for adults, but besides Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor, there’s a big gap for shelters for teens,” Hufnagel said.

By the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the furniture hadn’t arrived yet. The kitchen awaited further construction and the backyard remained bare. Yet, the space dreamed up by Hufnagel and Britta Sturks is easy to envision: Board games, foose ball table, big-screen television, cafe-style dining area, lawn games, basketball court.

At the yet-to-be-constructed kitchen island, Hufnagel expects future culinary classes.

He sees hot meals cooked and served at the stove a couple times per week.

He sees teens aged 13 to 17 getting the resources and care management they need to get their lives back on track.

If a teen wants to enter the facility and fill a bag with granola bars, the items will be there for the taking, according to Hufnagel.

For those wanting a shower, the option is always available. Even better, they can avoid walking through the center, past the critical eye of adolescence, to get to the hygiene sought. Instead, they can walk to the rear of the building next door (owned by the same landlord,) and enter the future sleeping quarters for homeless teens.

Though the idea is to provide a safe haven for the homeless and at-risk, the Landing Place plans to welcome all teens regardless of background into its long-term and after-school programs. Teens aged 18 and 19 will not be turned away, though the program is geared toward the younger side.

“We’re starting kind of modestly,” Hufnagel said. “We need to recognize what the numbers are, and see what the needs are.”

Yet Hufnagel’s drive to create the programs and open the doors indicates a need. He’s been in touch with area schools. He’s seen Camden’s Teen Center. He’s visited the programs in Bangor, Lewiston, and Portland.

The backing, the support, and the enthusiasm followed him to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Because of him, Sturks, the Homeless Coalition and the community, the wanderers, the bored, the couch surfers, the at-risk, the helpless and the hidden now have a place to land.

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com