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“Ever since I was a kid [I’ve wanted to do this work]. I couldn’t play baseball, so social work was the next best thing,” Cheryl Weiss, a 30-year resident of 11th and Federal streets, said.
Weiss, who clocked in her last day two weeks ago as the executive director of Diversified Community Services, 1529 S. 22nd St., a nonprofit multipurpose human service agency, has been an active agent of positive social change in the community for many years. At Diversified, she oversaw many programs that bettered locals.
“There are some specific achievements during my tenure,” Weiss said. “Our early-childhood education achieved national accreditation and there are only about 10 percent of all early-childhood programs that have such designations. It speaks to the high-quality standards for the education of pre-K children.”
Education, however, was not her only focus.
“We had a couple buildings on South Broad Street, like Broad and Federal, and we decided to sell and move into the heart of the neighborhood and built a brand new administrative center on Point Breeze Avenue,” she said of the 2007 relocation. “It was the first new major piece of construction in years — both for the agency, a new big undertaking, and also it represented new construction in Point Breeze.”
As a resident and community leader in the area for more than three decades, Weiss has bared witness to the multitude of changes. Though there are still strides to be made, in her decade with the nonprofit, she has overseen great leaps forward.
“There were a couple different issues. The first issue that clearly grabbed my attention was the high rate of violence, shooting and murders, particularly among young people. It was just devastating. Almost weekly you could hear about one,” she said. “We became very involved working with police and other community organizations to try to figure out solutions that lead us to a pilot for the city, the first ever curfew center.
“We’ve had a number of other violence-prevention programs all aimed at kids, teenagers. While violence in Point Breeze has persisted — I think it is still one of the top three crime rates in the city — the level has come down very much here.”
Weiss still feels passionately about projects that Diversified has on its slate. She will assist in finishing out a few initiatives, but felt that it was time for someone else to shake things up.
“I thought that 10 years was a good, long time to be the leader of an organization and it was time to move on and pursue other opportunities,” Weiss, who handed over the reins to Otis Bullock Jr. July 9, said. “I did the work really flat out. I thought doing something a little different, something a little different pace was what I was ready for.
“I have a feeling organizations grow with new leadership, new blood.”
A Boston, Mass. native Weiss was interested in social work and community interfacing from the beginning.
“I like the engagement and working with people and trying to solve problems,” Weiss said. “And figuring out interventions that might make a difference for people on some scale above a one-on-one.”
After completing an undergraduate degree at The University of Massachusetts in Amherst, she was ready to get a higher-level degree in her chosen field.
“Actually somebody in my family knew about [the master’s program at Temple University]. They had the kind of program that would be appealing to me — one more focused on community organization and planning rather than direct service, which is my orientation,” Weiss, who received her master’s in 1973, said. “So I came here and fell into some wonderful jobs here.”
Upon graduation, she began a career in social service in Philly, starting with managing a large-scale runaway shelter. Throughout her career she also was involved with beginning one of the first fuel funds in the country, which aided those without the means to pay utility bills. Over this time, Weiss has come to make Philly home.
“I just find it very comfy [in South Philly]. It’s easy to walk to downtown and obviously in the 30-plus years I’ve been here I’ve seen a lot of changes take place,” Weiss said. “It’s always been a nice selection of shopping on Ninth [Street] and restaurants, public transportation and housing and neighbors, really great neighbors.”
Her neighbors also are a part of her profession, and while she has come to count on them, she knows there is always more to be done.
“I think there is some level of engagement with neighbors and the work DCS does, but there is always the opportunity for more — individuals to volunteer, to help raise money, which is always a good thing, and for people to participate,” Weiss said.
Point Breeze is a very different place than it was when Weiss began her term at Diversified. The issues facing the incoming leadership will be old and new at the same time.
“Another big issue facing Point Breeze now is the gentrification and revitalization that’s happening around the periphery of the neighborhood. We launched the early stages of a community visioning process. The purpose here is to bring disparate elements, segments of the community — young people, African-American, white, professional, non [-professional], retirees, longtime residents, newcomers — to a table and say, ‘OK, how do we make this work for all of us?’ Gentrification at the same time is inclusive of people in the neighborhood for a long time and the newcomers. We need a common agenda,” she said
Leaving these new issues in good hands, Weiss hopes she also leaves a positive legacy at Diversified. In departing, she sees bright things on the horizon.
“I hope the new leadership at DCS proceeds with the community vision plan. It’s more than just a program, it’s a community-organizing effort to bring people together,” Weiss said. “What are some things we can be doing together — all of us, some of us — to see that move forward and get to that end point. That would be something.”
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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