Women Leaders … with Kelly Barbazette: Nonprofit leader is proof how an opportunity can alter one’s life path

Erin O’Brien earned her Master’s at the age of 37, has worked at Community Solutions for 25 years

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By Kelly Barbazette

As the leader of South County’s largest nonprofit service group, Erin O’Brien knows first-hand how a singular opportunity can alter one’s path for the better.

O’Brien’s childhood in the Bay Area was cushioned in privilege until she was kicked out of the house at 17. She never graduated high school and couch surfed until her 18th birthday when she got married and life went on. But she said her professional options were limited until 12 years later when she went back to school while living in Hollister and raising three children. She started taking classes at Gavilan College on her lunch break.

“With lots of support from friends and family, I earned my master’s (degree) in social work at 37,” O’Brien said. “All that to say that people’s paths can be very different. As you can imagine, I am a big proponent of education as a pathway to options. I think that that’s what education can give people — choices. If we’re lucky.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with O’Brien via Zoom about her role as executive director of Community Solutions and the path that led her to the nonprofit, where she began as an intern in 1996.

O’Brien, 61, said she actually stumbled into social work. Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree, she decided to pursue her master’s degree to help prevent her career aspirations from being stymied, but hadn’t chosen a professional field yet.

“I was searching and searching for what that might be in, because nothing captured me. And then when I heard about social work, it was like I found home. I knew immediately it was what I wanted to spend my life doing,” she said. “I loved all the different possibilities within the field, but all of them were based around making a difference in people’s lives. And there’s never been a moment that I doubted that it was the right choice for me.”

Community Solutions serves clients in Santa Clara and San Benito counties — ranging in age from children and adults to families and senior citizens. Their clients are in the midst of or are trying to escape perilous circumstances, suffering from trauma, in abusive relationships, sex-trafficking, overcoming addictions and mental health challenges, and other crisis situations. Community Solutions offers hope and healing through a host of specific support programs and “empowerment-powered” services designed to create opportunities and change lives.

“The full mission is believing that within everyone is huge potential and how do we get the barriers out of their way,” O’Brien said.

Community Solutions also provides a wide-range of prevention and outreach services for local communities on topics critical to the physical and emotional well-being of a community, including building and maintaining healthy relationships.

During the years, O’Brien has served many roles at Community Solutions, beginning as a clinical intern for families in therapy, and then becoming a therapist, manager for its domestic violence program, and clinical director, before being offered her current position. She said she found all of the areas of the organization compelling.

“I’m really lucky because there’s so many parts of my job that I love, but when I get worn down … I really connect to a staff member that’s doing direct service and say, ‘tell me about a client.’”

She said hearing about client success stories invigorates her and reconnects her to the people they are working to help.

“It’s not hard to be driven to make a difference when you’re up close to it — when a need becomes real that reading about it doesn’t do. Through my life experience and my work, people’s very real needs are very present to me. Once you know that and you’re aware of it, there’s a moral and human compulsion to try and help. I think that what drives me is making a difference, feeling that I’m contributing to making people’s lives better.”

Right outside her office window on Murray Avenue in northern Gilroy are rows and rows of RV’s filled with people who are unhomed.

“They’ve created a community and supported one another and all around there are people living in tents and their plight is very real,” O’Brien said. “Under really sad circumstances, they’ve been marvelous neighbors and I feel safer when I leave at night. But they shouldn’t have to be living this way.”

Their plight and the plight of other people living in similar conditions, O’Brien said, begs the question: how will we bring really affordable housing to South County?

“People are homeless because of policy, because people have decided that it’s OK,” she said.

One of the constant challenges of her job is funding, O’Brien said. Operating in one of the strangest business models — the nonprofit organization — makes it challenging to spend every dollar without making a single penny while meeting the needs of clients in the most effective manner. While advocating for policy changes on the county level, Community Solutions is simultaneously identifying the most urgent needs in the community, asking for funding from the community, and prioritizing services.

Oftentimes, Community Solutions identifies a need before untapping a funding source. For instance, O’Brien said Community Solutions began addressing the need to combat human trafficking in 2003, but funding for services didn’t begin to surface until 2011.

“And it’s (the program) just now fully funded,” she said. “There’s always a bit of a lag time. And we’re really committed to being responsive to the community needs and that becomes a challenge because we don’t always have the funding.”

One of the most pressing times of need is during the holiday season when Community Solutions serves as a conduit between the community and those who are in need. At Thanksgiving, Oakwood School in Morgan Hill donates boxes of food for families in need. In addition, at the beginning of December, individuals and groups may “adopt” a family through Community Solutions holiday giving program, providing gifts and grocery store gift cards. One Giving Tree provides Christmas trees and ornaments to families who otherwise wouldn’t have a tree. In total, 175 feast boxes were distributed at Thanksgiving, 100 families were “adopted,” and an additional 500 individuals will be given gifts at the holidays.

One of O’Brien’s favorite days of the year is when people drop off the gifts at Community Solutions.

“This is what the holidays for me are about. It’s lovely,” she said.

There’s something about Community Solutions that people — when they come to work there — fall in love with and end up staying for a long time, O’Brien said.

“I think it’s that we try to help support people to be mission-driven in their work. Honestly, it’s hard work. I say it’s hard work and also, it’s heart work,” she said. “Without that passion and the commitment and the mission keeping you sustained, it’s really, really hard work. For the past 20 months, it’s been really hard on staff and clients. I’m really proud of how we supported everyone through all the challenges with that.”

When she’s not working, O’Brien said she lives a relatively quiet life. After being married for 30 years, she and her ex-husband have a good relationship. She has three children, a 37-year-old and a set of 35-year-old twins. For seven years she has been married to David Cox, executive director of St. Joseph’s Family Center in Gilroy.

“I loved traveling and I don’t do it nearly as much as I like,” she said.

She said she feels really lucky to work with so many people who she considers friends.

When asked what advice she’d give other young women pursuing their goals, O’Brien said, “There are so many amazing women out there who are there to help you. Find your tribe, ask for help, and then turn around and pay it forward. I just find that women leaders are so incredibly supportive of other women leaders.”

She said she has found the Santa Clara County nonprofit community to be supportive and not competitive.

“Everyone is willing to help,” she said. “We’re a very relational community and field. Just take someone out for coffee and tell them what you need. People are always willing to help.”

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Kelly Barazette

Kelly Barbazette, a former journalist for Bay Area newspapers, is a freelance writer. She lives in Gilroy with her husband and two daughters. She can be reached at [email protected].

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