Drop in, hang out: Teens can find help and companionship at The 915 in Hopkins

Lydia Kihm was fortunate that there was a transitional living program to help her in late adolescence.

"It was called college," said Kihm, executive director of Teens Alone, a Hopkins-based agency that provides housing assistance, mental health counseling and other services to youth in western Hennepin County.

"I had a dormitory and a cafeteria. I had an RA and a mental health center. If I had been pushed off a cliff when I was 18, I couldn't have done it," she said. "Those of us who had a more protected adolescence don't realize how hard it can be."

Until now, Teens Alone has gone to the kids, serving about 300 young people a year through its counselors' school visits. But with the opening of The 915, the youth have a place to drop in and get help — or just hang out. The 915 recently opened in the basement of the Teens Alone headquarters at 915 Mainstreet.

Volunteers transformed a dirty, cramped basement storage area into a bright, inviting space with a kitchen, bathroom and common area. Jeff Renfroe, a Victoria resident, coordinated the project. At the grand opening, Teens Alone announced a gift of $5,000 from Grace Church in Eden Prairie, the organization's largest gift ever from a private donor.

"My goal is hospitality first," said Kihm. "Give them a place to breathe, a safe place to hang." Teens Alone serves youth from age 12 to 21. The typical client is a 15-year-old white girl, Kihm said, and the No. 1 reason the kids need help is dealing with stress and anxiety.

Bobbi Pointer, the school nurse at Hopkins High School, said adults often don't appreciate the demands on today's kids.

"We live in a demanding, competitive world," she said. "We stress these kids constantly: to get into a good school, to be in 25 clubs, to be a leader. There's no room to make mistakes; there's no room to be kids." Pointer noted recent brain research showing that the decisionmaking centers of young people aren't fully formed until well into their 20s. Adults demand that they make good decisions, but sometimes the youth simply aren't equipped to follow through.

Students often show up at the nurse's office with stomach aches, she said: "And when you see them three or four times, you start to look for the cause. And then the tears flow."

Some kids face more stark issues: bullying, gay-bashing, homelessness or chemical abuse, either their own or that of adults in their lives.

Kihm said that every suburban high school in the Twin Cities probably has at least 30 students who aren't securely housed. Teens Alone recently helped find housing for one boy who was living in a tent behind his western suburban school.

Shae Hall, 18, spent her senior year of high school homeless and couchsurfing. Her mother got a new boyfriend and didn't want her around, said Hall, who also spent several years in foster homes as a child. She found help through Teens Alone and now serves on the advisory board for The 915.

"I have my own apartment now, only because of the people here who helped me through my crazy crisis," said Hall, who works full-time at a Pawn America store. The drop-in center "means a lot to me, because I want the opportunity to talk to someone who's in my shoes and tell them they're going to be OK."

John Reinan • 612-673-7402