March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Teen Awareness Day focuses on services> Program seeks to link youths, information

BANGOR — Local teens and their families were able to eat lunch, listen to music and get information about area services Sunday during Teen Awareness Day, hosted by Project Atrium Inc. in cooperation with the Shaw House.

About 400 people attended the daylong event at Cascade Park. The program, with a theme of “Teens are People Too,” focused on increasing the community’s awareness of organizations such as Job Corps, the Eastern Maine AIDS Network and Acadia Hospital. Smaller groups, including St. Michael’s Center and the Good Samaritan Agency, also set up booths and handed out literature.

“This is an opportunity for people to show support for teens in the area,” said Jeanne Wypyski, executive director of Project Atrium, a nonprofit group that offers programs for homeless teens and those coping with mental illnesses and drug and alcohol abuse.

“It’s our way of doing something for the public, and it’s a fun way to get together with people,” she said.

While most of the organizations represented offered crisis prevention and counseling services, other groups promoted certain programs, such as the Bangor-Brewer Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, which sent members to the event to tell young people about their cadet program.

“We teach leadership skills, aerospace education and have search-and-rescue training,” said Lt. Col. Kate Brown, vice commander of the squadron. “Most kids join because they’re interested in flying. With this program they can get their junior pilot’s license.”

Brown said that although participants in the program are eligible to enter the military already ranked, they are not required to join the service after working with the squadron.

The Brown Bag, Frito-Lay, Frank’s Bakery, Subway and Wal-Mart were among the businesses that donated sandwiches, chips, soda and desserts to Project Atrium for Teen Awareness Day. Serena, Uncle Mad, 420 and Criinge gave free musical performances.

“We’re doing it for the teens,” said Adam Kaufman of Uncle Mad. His four-member band traveled from Searsport to attend the event.

Christie Dam and Devon Crossman of Brewer came to Teen Awareness Day to show their support for Project Atrium and the Shaw House.

“My brother used to live at the Shaw House,” Dam said. “We know a lot of people here.”

Rachael Losee also lives at the Shaw House and says she attended the event to help out.

“Mostly we’re here to answer questions and let people know what’s going on,” Losee said. “We give people more information on the community and its services.”

According to Wypyski, this is the first public event Project Atrium has hosted. She says that although Teen Awareness Day was organized too quickly to be advertised properly to service organizations and the community, she hopes those who attended the event considered it a success.

“We get calls from people who don’t know where to go and question what they should do,” Wypyski said. “I hope we answered some of those questions today.”


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