Phoenixville Womens Outreach founding director to retire
The board of directors of Phoenixville Women’s Outreach has announced the retirement of Executive Director Cheryl Messere.
“We have the deepest gratitude for Cheryl who has served so generously. While she is retiring as executive director, Cheryl will remain on the board as the founder. Her giving spirit has been as inspiring as her vision for this mission.”
— Mike Bryson, president of the Phoenixville Women’s Outreach board
PHOENIXVILLE >> Messere’s passion, innovation and deep commitment over the last six years have elevated Phoenixville Women’s Outreach as a leader in providing safe and affordable housing solutions in the community, Mike Bryson, president of the Phoenixville Women’s Outreach board, said in a release.
“We have the deepest gratitude for Cheryl who has served so generously,” Bryson said. “While she is retiring as executive director, Cheryl will remain on the board as the founder. Her giving spirit has been as inspiring as her vision for this mission.”
Messere and husband Barry founded Phoenixville Women’s Outreach to solve the needs of single women experiencing homelessness. Both had already spent decades devoting themselves to helping the needy and underprivileged on the streets of Philadelphia and through the People to People ministry at First Presbyterian Church.
But soon they were fielding calls for help from women in their own hometown.
“The working poor have come to the suburbs,” according to Messere.
While Phoenixville had a family and a men’s homeless shelter, it did not have a housing option for single women.
It became Cheryl and Barry Messere’s dream to create a housing solution that would offer a transitional program with a unique shared living model.
The dream soon became a reality and “The House” opened its door and welcomed its first resident on
New Year’s Day in 2015. Phoenixville Women’s Outreach’s program now provides women with safe housing as well as training and guidance in essential life skills such as economic planning, resilience and self-sufficiency.
It recently expanded to
include a second property — the Next Step House, a permanent supportive housing solution for women with limited incomes.
Messere’s retirement now ushers in a new chapter for Phoenixville Women’s Outreach.
The board has also announced the selection of Andrea Blue as Phoenixville Women’s Outreach’s new executive director, effective March 1.
Blue comes to Phoenixville from upstate New York.
“Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and so proud and happy to live and work in the area,” she says.
Blue brings with her an extensive career in nonprofit leadership with a background in management, event planning and community outreach, combined with her many accomplishments in counseling, crisis intervention and youth education.
Blue has expressed her sincere appreciation of the work and achievements of her predecessor, citing Phoenixville Women’s Outreach’s mission and clientcentered values as central to her decision to take on the vital role.
“I am feeling so blessed that I found the opportunity here at PWO with its strong, dedicated team,” Blue said. “And I am humbled to step into the incredibly largeto-fill shoes of Cheryl. I am deeply honored to help lead PWO into the next decade.”
This is an exciting time for Phoenixville Women’s Outreach and the board is grateful for the community’s continued support during this transition.
The board and staff will honor Cheryl and Barry Messere’s legacy of service, celebrate Cheryl’s retirement, and recognize the accomplishments of Phoenixville Women’s Outreach at its upcoming Gala event on Oct. 21.
Phoenixville Women’s Outreach is a not-for-profit 501C3 founded in 2014. Its mission is to help single homeless and low-income women from crisis to independence by providing: housing with a structured program of stability; resources and support to break the cycle of dependence and poverty; a savings program to aid in becoming financially independent; skills training empowering self-sufficiency and independence; and guidance in securing sustainable employment. POW operates a transitional house as well as a permanent low-income house.