Following a difficult financial year, Westbrook’s My Place Teen Center will receive $50,000 from Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who will present a check personally Thursday morning.

According to Donna Dwyer, the center’s executive director, the money comes at a crucial time, the start of a new fiscal year. She said the money will fund one month’s worth of programming at the center, which, she said, saw record numbers last year.

“Our stable funding sources have been so depleted,” she said, adding that roughly 90 percent of the center’s funding must come from fundraising efforts. The center receives $25,000 from the city, and $48,000 from the United Way toward its $600,000 budget.

“I start out July 1 only knowing 10 percent of our budget, and it’s scary,” she said Tuesday.

Just a few months ago, Dwyer and city officials sparred over the city’s annual support for the teen center. The city allocates $25,000 to the teen center as part of its social services budget, but the funding was in jeopardy after Dwyer requested $100,000.

The funds from LePage come from what’s known as the State Contingent Account. According to the Maine statute, the account was set up by the Maine Legislature with money to be allocated at the governor’s direction, not to exceed $300,000 in any given year. LePage announced last week that funds would go to 14 organizations this year, including My Place Teen Center. LePage plans to present the check at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Some of the other organizations receiving funding are House in the Woods, a veterans’ retreat in Lee; the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor; Maine Highlands Senior Center in Dover-Foxcroft; and a Maine NASCAR race car.

The teen center’s $50,000 is the most that any one organization received. The Challenger Learning Center received the next largest contribution, at $30,000.

In a press release from the teen center, LePage called the organization an example of Mainers working together to fill an unmet need in their community.

“So much more than just a ‘place to go,’ the staff at MPTC have created an environment where these youth can gain life skills, make positive connections with peers and role models, and access resources that may not be available to them at home,” he said.

My Place Teen Center is a free, year-round after-school program for children between the ages of 10-18. The center is open five hours a day, and serves hot meals nightly. Dwyer said the organization served 567 kids last year, a new high for the center.

She said many of the kids that visit the center live “week to week, and month to month,” and she often feels My Place Teen Center operates the same way.

LePage last visited the teen center in February, just before a town meeting he led focusing on his state budget proposal. He said then that he identifies with the work being done at places like My Place Teen Center because of his experience as a homeless youth.

Dwyer said she isn’t aware of the governor’s criteria for receiving the funding, but said she did visit LePage in Augusta in June, as part of her efforts to find additional funding sources.

“We did ask him specifically if he had any funding,” she said.

Dwyer said she knew about the contingency fund from other nonprofits receiving funding in previous years.

Adrienne Bennett, the spokeswoman for LePage, told the American Journal this week that the governor meets with groups and gives them the opportunity to share with him their needs. She said the governor is sometimes asked directly for contingency funds, but that it’s not political in any way.

Bennett said the contingency funds can also go to emergency needs, which are reviewed first, and then allocated to those areas or programs that need it.

When asked whether the money could be used for political payback, she replied, “No, that’s not what it’s used for. Our governor doesn’t operate that way.”

Dwyer said “part of the conversation” with LePage stemmed from her budget discussions with city officials this spring. The $25,000 from the city in this year’s budget was added last minute.

During budget discussions, Dwyer had repeatedly requested $100,000, but most city officials countered that $100,000 is on par with the entire social services budget.

The city first planned for the funds to come from the school department, in exchange for the district’s use of the center for an alternative learning program. However, discussions faltered after Dwyer maintained her request for $100,000. At $25,000, the teen center still receives more funding from the city than any other social service organization.

Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton said Wednesday that she’s had continued conversations with Dwyer and the teen center about securing “long-term sustainability” funding, outside city funding. She also reiterated her hope that the teen center collaborates with the Westbrook School Department.

“I think that’s the best bet for funding for My Place should be coming from,” she said. “They’re serving the same populations and have some similar programs.”

Dwyer and other teen-center supporters have argued that the city spends far too little on social services.

“If we’re serving that many kids, with 90 percent from Westbrook, but 90 percent of our funding is coming from away, there’s a disconnect,” she said.

Gov. Paul LePage visited My Place Teen Center Thursday, where he presented the Westbrook nonprofit a $50,000 check. Courtesy photo

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