In July 2016, after another loss of a young person to suicide, the Bath Youth Meetinghouse & Skatepark organized a meeting with five local organizations to address the high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide found within our community.

By the fall, the Midcoast Community Alliance had grown to include nearly 75 people from 34 different organizations all working together to reduce mental health stigma, to encourage help seeking and, ultimately, to be a suicide-free community.

Our coalition of concerned community members, students, parents, educators, mental health professionals, physicians, law enforcement and churches - grew to become Midcoast Youth Center in 2020.

Midcoast Youth Center, located at the former Bath Youth Meetinghouse & Skateaprk, provides a diverse array of programs and services designed to improve the lives of youth and prevent youth suicide in Sagadahoc County, Brunswick, and Harpswell.

We place an emphasis on meeting the basic needs of youth, offering free food, clothing and toiletries. We work closely with health experts to connect teens to vaping cessation, mental health services and substance use treatment.

Our Merrymeeting Homeless Youth Project provides critical outreach services to children and youth up to age 24 to increase their school attendance and stabilize community life.  Youth receive assistance with access to healthcare, food, clothing, shelter, and in navigating complex systems to obtain health insurance, stable housing, college enrollment, and employment.

We provide a variety of “out-of-school” learning experiences to Bath Middle School students. Using a collaborative and mindfully coordinated approach to support the whole child with academic success and social-emotional wellness, Midcoast Youth Center delivers afterschool and summer programming for local youth.

During the 2019-20 school year, we also provided distance learning support to 45 students in middle & high school.