When Lisa DeSilva moved to Morgan Hill 33 years ago she never imagined that one day she would be a leader of a community non-profit group that has helped thousands of people change their lives for the better .
DeSilva is the Chief Development Officer for Community Solutions in Gilroy , a human services agency that served more than 7,000 clients , from children to older adults , last year alone .
DeSilva , 55 , remembers moving to Morgan Hill when she was 22 years old – plucked from the camaraderie of college life to sleepy Morgan Hill after graduating from the State University of New York at Geneseo with a Bachelor ’ s Degree in sociology and women ’ s studies .
“ It was a much smaller community than now ,” DeSilva recalls . “ I think there were 18,000 people at that time and only a couple of traffic lights .”
She lived in the Chesbro area of Morgan Hill and remembers feeling “ unplugged from the world .” While working the graveyard shift of the conveyor belt at Gilroy Foods , she registered for a women ’ s studies class at Gavilan College to meet other women .
Soon after , she and a group of classmates began discussing the idea of opening a women ’ s resource center in Morgan Hill . They were going to name it Annapurna , which is a section of the Himalayas in Nepal . An all women expedition team scaled it without any sponsors in 1978 , becoming the first Americans – and the first women – to climb the treacherous peak .
DeSilva and her friends envisioned a center offering childcare , self-defense classes , employment training and counseling . However , they realized that their dream was a bit too big and needed to scale it down . She and a small group of women met every Monday night for a year , from 1980 to 1981 , and opened the crisis hotline in October 1981 . Soon after , they founded the Bridge Counseling Center in Morgan Hill , offering counseling services and mental health services for youths and families . This group ultimately became Community Solutions in 1996 and expanded to offer crisis intervention and support services .
Today , Community Solutions has 190 staff members and five different program divisions , including support services for survivors of sexual assault , human trafficking and domestic abuse ; adults living with schizophrenia or a serious mental illness ; adults with a history of substance abuse or having been incarcerated ; youths in the foster care system , juvenile delinquent system , and those who have gang affiliation or showing at risk behaviors ; and children in families who are struggling with severe crisis and dysfunction . Their client base is primarily in South County with offices in Gilroy , South San Jose and Hollister .
“ Poverty is a problem for many of our families . It compounds what they are already challenged with , however , income has nothing to do with whether someone is battered by a husband or abused by a family member ,” DeSilva said .
DeSilva has been the chief development officer for the past 13 years and is responsible for fundraising , donor activities , community relations and communications .
20
M O R G A N H I L L T O D A Y W I N T E R 2 0 1 4