Board Member Profile: Paul Baker
Paul Baker
Paul Baker, an engineer and 40-year employee of Apple, joined the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County (CCSCC) in 2022. He and his wife, Debbie, are the parents of two daughters and have five grandchildren. The Bakers are 20-year members of our Caritas Society and parishioners at St. Simon Catholic Parish in Los Altos.
What was your initial connection to CCSCC? My wife, Debbie, was instrumental in our family supporting refugees served through Catholic Charities starting in 2008. We hosted a family of Bhutanese refugees who had lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for 17 years and a woman who fled the war in Iraq.
Is there one area of Catholic Charities community programming that is most meaningful to you? I am particularly interested in the housing affordability crisis affecting people who live in Silicon Valley. When I joined the CCSCC board, I was also allowed to join the board of Charities Housing, the housing arm of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County. In this role, I can see firsthand how the work of Catholic Charities is directly helping people in our community. The fact that Charities Housing has a portfolio of 1,400 housing units and a construction pipeline of 2,000 more is direct evidence of the impact of Catholic Charities.
Why would you encourage others to support Catholic Charities and get involved in our mission? Having the opportunity to see how Catholic Charities directly benefits the people in our community is eye-opening. Catholic Charities provides support in many different ways from affordable housing, the CORAL after-school program, food distribution, even income tax preparation assistance. Every time I see how Catholic Charities efforts benefit people it makes me proud to be involved in such a great organization.
