Aroostook County’s only youth-focused homeless shelter will close in late February, citing a lack of funding and resources.
The Northern Lighthouse, a nonprofit that supports children and families in Northern Maine with mental health services, has announced that its Safe Harbor Youth Shelter in Mars Hill will close on Feb. 24.
The news comes three and a half years after the shelter first opened and less than three months after the nonprofit shuttered a transitional living program housed in the same facility after it was denied a $350,000 federal grant.
It’s unclear how many children currently live in the shelter, which serves youth aged 10-17. The organization did not immediately respond to a call seeking additional information Friday.
“Thank you to everyone who has stood beside us, believed in our mission, and helped us change the trajectory of young lives for the better. Our commitment to youth and families in our community remains steadfast,” The Northern Lighthouse wrote in the release.
Maine’s 2025 Point in Time Count — the federally mandated single-night census of the sheltered and unsheltered homeless population in communities across the U.S. — found that there were 672 homeless youth and young adults in the state up to age 24.
