 On average, students spend around 2,000 hours a year outside of school, and for many of that, time is spent home alone. The shop, a youth-defined space in Brainerd, offers teenagers a place where they can feel comfortable and welcome when not at school. With this week's in focus reporter Rachel Johnson has more. Located on Washington Avenue in Brainerd is a unique green building called the shop. The shop is a drop-in youth center for teenagers and young adults, and every day is a little bit different around here. The shop was established in the summer of 2010 and provides a home for area teenagers where they can feel welcome and safe during their time spent out of school. The youth awareness initiative got together with all the youth serving organizations and said, you know, there really isn't a place for young people in our community. The shop was originally located in downtown Brainerd, but moved to Washington Avenue to be more convenient and easy to find. Besides being a safe space to hang out, the shop provides a variety of programs. We do a lot of activities, crafts. Like just in the past week, we made candles and blankets. We just finished up our Girls Who Code semester. We are involved in service to community projects, and those are projects where we go out and do stuff in the community. One of their programs is called Rainbow Road, which meets once a week and offers a safe space for members or allies of the LGBTQ community. We do like movie nights and different things like that for the LGBTQ youth in our community, just for those who like don't have the support system at home. It helps me like be in a more of a safer place like where I can be myself instead of having to be hidden. The shop provides a much needed service in the Brainerd Lakes area, which does not have a Boys and Girls Club or typical youth center. We are unique in the Brainerd community in that we are a space where loitering is a welcome activity. So kids can come in, teenagers, young adults can come in, and we can help them with different things. We can be their guides. We can be their mentors. A lot of youth in smaller towns don't have much to do, and they can get involved in bad things if they don't have that sense of community. So with the shop and through Rainbow Road, they can find those people to connect to and talk to. The shop is a simple concept, but it has made a great impact on the kids at a tent. To see young people come through the program and not talk to anybody, sit in the corner, and after they're here for like a year or so, all of a sudden they're taking part, they're becoming engaged. It's a good place to get out like who you are and make friends and stuff because it life is a lot better with friends. Reporting from Brainerd with This Week's In Focus, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.