Meet Danny O’Brien, Founder and CEO of Avila Home Care
Avila Home Care represents the integration of Founder and CEO Danny O’Brien’s professional experiences in senior living, health care and pastoral ministry. For sixteen years, Danny was a senior executive and board member of Erickson Living, one of the nation’s leaders in senior living and health care. At Erickson, he served as Executive Director of Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville. At the time, it was the largest life-care retirement community in the United States, providing housing and healthcare for over 2,400 residents with over 1,300 staff.
In 2006, he received an unexpected invitation to become the pastor of Grace Fellowship Church. Early on in Danny’s career, he’d earned his seminary degree and served in a ministry to young adults (Young Life) in Baltimore County, and this new call to service was a profound opportunity for Danny to work with the families at Grace to build a beautiful ministry, especially serving those with disabilities, illness, and other physical and emotional challenges, as well as providing end of life spiritual guidance.
During his time at Erickson, and throughout the decade that Danny served as the pastor of Grace Fellowship Church, he realized that there was a tremendous need for quality home care services for seniors who are not yet prepared to leave their home, but who need more support to age in place.
In the years since Danny founded Avila Home Care to meet this need, the staff has grown to a team of over 350 caregivers- all of whom Danny personally meets with and interviews before inviting them to serve our clients. “We hire people for whom serving seniors and other homebound clients is not just a job, but a calling. Our entire Avila family of caregivers and staff see our work as God’s work- and we serve with joy and gratitude every day.”
Avila’s partnerships with GBMC HealthCare, Lifebridge Health Partners, and Gilchrist Hospice have enhanced the capacity and services we provide, and Danny and the staff are grateful for the opportunity to nurture relationships between our clients and our partners to ensure the best care possible.
Read about our other wonderful staff and nurses at Avila Home Care!
Meet Sarah McCullough,
Client Care Coordinator at Avila Home Care!
Sarah is from Washington State, and attended Simpson University in northern California, which is part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. She majored in Business, with a minor in Cross Cultural Studies. After college she moved to Maryland to teach preschool and get her Montessori Certificate. It was through her volunteer work with the disability’s…
Getting Seniors Aging in Place on Board with Technology
The home care providers at Avila Home Care describe methods and benefits of using technology in aging in place homes. There are many factors that one must consider regarding the safety, security, health, and well-being of a loved one who has decided to age in place. Fortunately, technology continues to evolve, making it easier than…
“Fall-Proof” Shoes May Not Be What You Think
When most people think of “fall-proof” shoes, they think of sturdy footwear with thick soles. However, not all shoes will help prevent falls in all situations, and so it is important for the elderly to know which types of footwear will keep them safest in different situations. Here, the home care providers at Avila Home…