Here We GROW Again!

Angels of Mercy charity has grown far beyond founder’s expectations

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Since the Angels of Mercy opened a permanent storefront in northeast Rochester just over a year ago, “the door never stops (opening),” Mary Jo Colligan said.

The charity the Irondequoit resident started just two and a half years ago, to help women in need, has already outgrown the space.

“The phone rings all day long,” said dedicated volunteer and now Angels of Mercy vice president Josie Gangarossa of Webster.

The Angels may be best known for their Dress A Girl project — which provides dresses to girls around the world in the belief that every girl deserves the dignity of owning at least one dress. The project also helps discourage would-be predators by presenting the appearance that a girl wearing a new dress is well cared for.

Just in recent weeks, the Angels of Mercy has shipped dresses to Honduras, Panama, Haiti, Kenya, other parts of Africa and the Dominican Republic.

Its biggest shipment to date — 15,000 dresses — is on its way to Cambodia.

Yet, Angels of Mercy is more than Dress A Girl.

When the charity opened its storefront on Winton Road North, it also started what it calls its Butterfly Boutique, which provides (free) complete outfits of gently used clothing for women trying to move forward in life. Some are going on job interviews, Colligan said, others are just getting back into the work force, and still others may just have gotten out of prison.

“We tell them all, ‘you are special’,” Colligan said. “Every time a woman comes in, we see transformations take place right before our eyes.”

Appointments for the boutique are preferred, but just last year, the charity “dressed and blessed” 300 area women.

A lot of them are referred by social workers, friends and churches, Gangarossa said, explaining that they give each woman two to three outfits, including accessories and coats. They can come back every three months.

Angels of Mercy also holds an annual, month-long coat and clothing drive once a year, and this past year collected 700 bags of clothing that were distributed to victims of Hurricane Sandy, refugees, in the Rochester School District, to the homeless and to local shelters.

“City schools call us begging for coats,” Gangarossa said, and they try to accommodate them.

“We want the community to know what we’re doing and where our heart is,” added Gangarossa, who had her own business and now spends three days a week at Angels of Mercy. “I felt the bigger need was here,” she said.

“We (at Angels of Mercy) are a good team,” Colligan said. “We have great, faithful board members and volunteers and such support for one another.”

Colligan is now the Dress A Girl representative for all of New York and travels around the state, often with Gangarossa or board member Georgiana Bondi, on speaking engagements.

“This (Angels of Mercy) has grown beyond my expectations; it’s just amazing,” Colligan said.