‘Joe’s Place’ finally brings Preble Street teens under one roof in Portland
Portland Teen Shelter and Center Move Under One Roof at 343 Cumberland Avenue
The city’s newest youth‑support hub opened its doors this month at 343 Cumberland Avenue, where Preble Street’s teen center and its night‑time shelter have finally been brought together. The combined facility, dubbed Joe’s Place in honor of the organization’s founder Joe Kreisler, offers a 24‑hour safe space that eliminates the need for teens to move between separate buildings each night.
The move followed years of planning, fundraising and construction. The $3.8 million project was paid for through a mix of grants and private donations, and the new building now houses 24 beds—expandable to 28—along with a kitchen, a small health clinic and dedicated areas for meals and study. Teens receive three meals a day, and the program connects them to educational and employment resources, as well as housing assistance and opportunities to reconnect with family.
“We can finally keep the same people in one place all night,” said Kiersten Mulcahy, Preble Street’s director of teen services. “Seeing 13 teens sleep in the new rooms on the first night was a beautiful thing.” The first night, the group enjoyed a taco dinner—a nod to the program’s origin, when a simple weekly taco night was the only tangible request from a dozen teens who had met with Preble Street’s executive director, Mark Swann, to shape the new drop‑in center.
“The name Joe’s Place allows a young person to say they’re headed there without immediately revealing they’re staying in a shelter,” Swann explained. “It gives them the option to share that detail only if they choose.”
Hannah Ulcickas, assistant director of housing and outreach, noted the visible transformation. “It’s looking beautiful,” she said as she helped set up mattresses and sheets in the newly finished dormitory. The layout now includes comfortable chairs, a kitchenette for teens to prepare food between scheduled meals, and an enclosed courtyard that lets them spend time outside without the worry of passing strangers.
Since opening, the center’s capacity has grown from the initial 13 occupants to 20 residents. Mulcahy reports that the new layout is making it easier to build trust with the teens: “When people see they have a place to stay without having to pack up each night, the sense of security is immediate.”
A former client, who now lives in a transitional housing program, described Joe’s Place as a place of kindness. “This was one of the only places where I experienced kindness,” the client said. “And while I hope things get better and other kids don’t have to experience this, if they do, this would be the place to be. I wouldn’t want them to be anywhere else.”
The former Preble Street shelter had been located at 38 Preble St. and had opened nightly at 8 p.m., forcing teens at the center to relocate each evening. Moving the shelter into the Cumberland building, Preble Street staff says, is a milestone that brings the city’s teen services “under one roof,” providing a more stable and welcoming environment for Maine’s most vulnerable youth.
