Two Years of the Teen Lounge at Martha’s Table

The Teen Lounge at Martha’s Table is a place where young people can walk in after school and feel like they belong. This May, our Teen Lounge celebrated its two-year anniversary! In just two years, the Teen Lounge has had over 6,000 visits from nearly 500 teens.

With teen voices at the center, the space continues to be shaped every day by the young people who call it their own. Through the Martha’s Teen Association, young leaders help guide Teen Lounge decision-making, sharing their ideas, feedback, and hopes for what the space can become.

Step inside the Teen Lounge on any given evening, and you will hear music playing in the background, friends catching up on the latest high school news, and the excited squeals of teens seeing each other after a long 24 hours apart.

Teens filter in and out throughout the afternoon and into the evening, bringing hugs, stories, moods, and energy — sometimes bubbling over, sometimes completely drained.

Jasmine may be reviewing her resume with Lizzie. Zariah might be crocheting decorations for an upcoming party. Demorie is finishing homework on the shared desktop computer. Ahmari is looking through photos she took during week two of the photography course.

In the words of one teen, “Being at Martha’s (Table) makes me feel better, like a second home.”

That feeling has been at the center of the Teen Lounge since it first opened.

Have you ever asked a teen in DC what they want to see change in the way adults support them? We have, and ultimately, two themes emerge: Opportunity and Safety. 

Youth are safe when their psychological and physical needs are being met. Youth are safe when they have access to third spaces that care about them. Youth are safe when they are recognized for all that they are.

Teen Lounge participant Atraya recently spoke at the DC Committee on Youth Affairs. He shared how Martha’s Table is “getting it right.” Watch the full video here.

At the Teen Lounge, safety begins with belonging.

Over the past two years, the Teen Lounge has shown us that safety can look different from day to day. Sometimes, safety looks like a hot meal after school or a quiet place to nap. Sometimes, it looks like reliable transportation to and from the program. Sometimes, it looks like someone helping with homework, listening without judgment, or making sure a teen knows they are welcome the moment they walk through the door.

Every teen who comes to the Teen Lounge is offered dinner at no cost. Martha’s Table also helps cover transportation so that safely getting to and from the lounge is not a barrier to participating. These supports matter. They help make it possible for teens to come consistently, build relationships, and take part in opportunities that interest them.

One of the biggest compliments staff have received from teens is that the space feels like a basement they can come to whenever they want to relax. To them, it feels like home. That sense of home is intentional.

Rather than building a program around mandatory activities, the Teen Lounge was created to be flexible. Teens ages 14 to 19 can come in and bring whatever version of themselves they are carrying that day.

Often, the version they are carrying is looking for new opportunities. As the Teen Lounge has grown over the past two years, so has its programming. Alongside the open lounge environment, Martha’s Table offers optional activities shaped by teen voice, feedback, and trusted community partnerships. These partners help teens explore their interests, build skills, and try new things in a supportive environment. 

• Through Hearts of Empowerment, teens can receive tutoring and homework help.
• Project Create supports Art Wellness and beat-making activities. 
• Project Purpose introduces teens to podcasting, while Wefit offers opportunities for teen fitness.
• The Difference Society leads entrepreneurship programming.
• Youth Helping Us Grow Sexually (YHUGS) supports youth-centered health education. 
• Ekuso works with teens to participate in E-Sports tournaments 
• Beverly Price hosts photography workshops.

Together, these partners help make the Teen Lounge a place where teens can rest, connect, create, move, learn, and lead. 

These activities did not appear by accident; they grew out of what teens asked for and what staff heard directly from young people. That is an important part of our Teen Lounge model. The goal is not to “fix” young people. The goal is to listen to them, support them, and create more opportunities for them to grow, lead, and feel connected.

Sometimes, it even looks like a small basketball hoop hanging over a whiteboard.

That $20 hoop has become one of the most-used items in the Teen Lounge. Over the past two years, it has seen thousands of shots: fadeaways, dunks, layups, and trick shots. It has brought out competition, laughter, movement, and joy.

In those moments, teens are not being asked to perform or explain themselves. They are simply playing. They are relaxing, connecting, and getting the space to be young. And that matters.

Two years in, the Teen Lounge is more than a program. It is a space built with teens, for teens.

And after two years, one thing is clear: the Teen Lounge has become exactly what teens told us they needed: a place where they can just be themselves.