Maureen Maher-Gray, executive director and founder of NEPA Youth Shelter, will retire in June.
She announced her plans in a statement today, also her birthday.
Maher-Gray opened the unique shelter in 2016, after a year spent working with Equality Pennsylvania and touring the state as part of an effort to add LGBTQ people as a protected class under Pennsylvania law.
In a previous interview with WVIA News, she recalled what many teens told her at tour events.
“I’d never tell my parents I’m gay, because they’d kick me out and there’s no place to go,” she said.
Maher-Gray founded the shelter to help homeless young people find affordable housing, and opened its Teen Center to create a safe space for teens from Scranton and West Scranton high schools.
The Teen Center plans to move to a new location on Providence Road, a short walk from Scranton High School. At the end of 2023, the shelter bought a three-apartment building in Scranton to house youths.
Maher-Gray was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in April 2018. According to a statement, after aggressive treatment, she learned in June that she had "no more active lesions."
"With her health condition under control...this fight has given her additional reason to retire and enjoy the many things on her bucket list while she remains in good health," the statement says.
Maher-Gray will retire June 30. A celebration honoring her accomplishments will be planned for the spring, according to the statement. The shelter's board of directors will begin searching for a new executive director "soon."