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!
Maintaining a Social Life While Aging in Place
Having a full, rich social life may be the key to a positive aging in place experience. Here, the homecare experts at Avila detail ways for seniors to maintain a healthy social life. Why is a Strong Social Life So Important for Seniors? According to the Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for…
Aging in Place Doesn’t Have to Mean Staying in Place
“Aging in place” means staying in the home we love with the assistance that keeps us healthy and safe. The right planning and the right help allow our loved ones to maintain their independence and provides family and friends with the peace of mind that their senior is safe and content. According to a study…
A Life of Miracles- In Honor of Avila Home Care Client Helen “Halina” Silber
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.