A Brief Look at the History of the Breakwater Homeless Teen Project

Seven years prior to the opening of the Breakwater Shelter the program stood as merely an idea in a classroom aptly called “Course for the Common Good.”  This course in the Opportunity Alternative Education School focused on homelessness as a problem they wished to address in their class.  Through seven years of dedicated fundraising, planning, research and advocacy this class each year took on the immense task of starting a homeless shelter for teenagers. 

In 2001 the program was able to obtain what is the primary funding organization in the form of the MBNA Foundation. This led to the opening of the Breakwater Drop-In Program in November of 2001 and the opening of the Breakwater Teen Shelter on December 24, 2001.