A new executive director will take the helm at the NEPA Youth Shelter when founder Maureen Maher-Gray retires at the end of next month.
John W. Rosengrant has been appointed as the next executive director, the shelter’s board of directors announced this week.
Rosengrant has 25 years of experience in human services, according to a statement from the board. He is a licensed clinical social worker and has served as executive director of Katie’s Place Clubhouse, a Scranton nonprofit, for the last few years.
Rosengrant also has served on the NEPA Youth Shelter’s board of directors since 2019.
“I’m eager to lead NEPA Youth Shelter into the next chapter,” Rosengrant said in a statement from the board. “One focused on ensuring sustainability and deepening our impact for as many young people as possible.”
Maher-Gray, the current executive director, announced in January that she will retire on June 30.
She 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."
Maher-Gray founded the shelter to help homeless young people of all backgrounds find affordable housing, and opened its Teen Center to create a safe space for teens from Scranton and West Scranton high schools. At the end of 2023, the shelter bought a three-apartment building in Scranton to house youths.
In this week’s statement, Maher-Gray shared her excitement for Rosengrant’s appointment.
“He will carry the heart of what we do — valuing every person who comes through our door — into his tenure,” she said.
