Our Clients

Avila Home Care was blessed to care for Helen “Halina” Silber until her passing this year. A survivor of the Holocaust, she was number 16 of the 1200 souls on Schindler’s list.

“She always said that her life had been a series of ‘miracles with improbable ends and that God was with me all the way,’ and he was until the end of her days,” her daughter Fran reflects.

Margaret Sellmayer has abundant wisdom and a quick wit to share with Avila in this feature story. A renowned chemist for decades, loyal to her family and friends, and a woman of deep faith, at 92 years old, Margaret is a remarkable Avila Home Care Client, as well as long-time Oak Crest Senior Living Community resident and an inductee into the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.

Margaret shares, “The secret to a long life is (1) faith in God and (2) a positive attitude- I have a lot to be grateful for; God is good!”

Terry sits beside Tom Farbman with a look of quiet wonder and admiration as Tom regales us with stories about his time as a young writer and artist in the late 1960’s in Greenwich Village, New York City. Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were among Tom’s literary heroes, and he immersed himself in the remnants of Beat culture with dreams of becoming a poet as “the hippies began to move into the Village”. During the day, Tom worked at a bookstore, a nirvana that quenched his thirst for reading and writing amidst the “wild west of protests and parades” that…

    “The people around you form you- none were rich, but all had love…” Rita Ann Petrucci’s eyes sparkle with memories. Born and raised in a loving Irish family in East Baltimore in the 1930’s and 40’s, Rita attended St. Elizabeth’s School with her 1 sister and 2 brothers. Her mother Esther instilled a deep and abiding kindness in her children, “Treat people the way you’d like to be treated.” Esther practiced what she preached- often taking in people who didn’t have a place to stay or a warm meal to eat. Rita has fond memories of her youth,…