Page 12 - Healthcare Heroes 2025

HealthcareHEROES
A P R O G R A M O F B U S I N E S S W E S T & H E A L T H C A R E N E W S
“I know what
it’s like to be
homeless,
having to
sleep on a
park bench.
So I never
forget where
I came from.
It’s just having
that heart of
gratitude that
I was able to
overcome a lot
of these things
and serve my
community.”
doesn’t define who I am today, but there are lessons to be learned
from it.”
She intends to share those lessons in a number of ways outside
the classroom, starting with a memoir she’s writing titled There Is
a Purpose for Your Pain. She’s also speaking at the annual Rise Up
conference, taking place on Oct. 9 at the MassMutual Center in
Springfield.
Her lived experience as a trauma survivor — not only as a child,
but as an adult; she came to Western Mass. from New York due to a
domestic violence situation — also informed the creation of Olivia’s
Mission, which aims to create a safe, empowering space for women
through peer support groups and specialized training opportunities
on behavioral health education; grief, loss, and healing; public health
core competencies; family planning; and more.
“I am a domestic violence survivor, and I want to use my story
to inspire other women,” she said. “Even local businesses have
started to reach out to me — maybe a customer needs help, or is
experiencing a crisis, and they’re asking, ‘can you help him with some
resources?’ So, again, it’s a resource to anyone that needs help.”
As DeVito put it, “through Olivia’s Mission, Areliz collaborates
with faith-based organizations, healthcare institutions, and
academic programs to design wellness solutions rooted in cultural
responsiveness and community empowerment.”
But Barbosa is active in the community in other ways as well. As a
member of the New England Public Health Training Center advisory
committee, she advocates for the voices of community health
workers and calls for inclusive representation across all levels of
public and healthcare systems.
She also provides expert insight to medical students through
several initiatives, including Baystate Health’s Wellness on Wheels,
where she emphasizes trust building between providers and
patients; Baystate’s Population-based Urban and Rural Community
Health committee, where she contributes to culturally informed
panel discussions; and Bay Path’s Health Resources and Services
Administration advisory board, where she shares strategies for
culturally humble engagement and serving diverse populations.
She also just created Healing Through Motherhood, a support
group for mothers of adult children (her own son is 23). Participants,
she explained, will include mothers facing the challenge of
supporting an adult child (or children) through trauma, unhealthy
behaviors, or emotional distress. Here, they can access a safe space
to connect, share, and heal together, while building community and
support and navigating life transitions that aren’t often talked about.
In addition, for the past 23 years, Barbosa has coordinated a
Thanksgiving outreach that provides free meals to individuals.
“When I started it from my home, we served 34 meals. Last year,
we were able to serve over 1,000 meals,” she said, noting that, this
November, the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute will collaborate on
the project. “It’s just getting bigger and better.”
This is, in fact, one more way Barbosa’s lived experience informs
her work today.
“I know what it’s like to be homeless, having to sleep on a park
bench. So I never forget where I came from. It’s just having that
heart of gratitude that I was able to overcome a lot of these things
and serve my community.”
Matters of Perspective
That’s a lot of roles, for sure, and it’s not even the whole list
of what Barbosa does. For example, she also mentors emerging
entrepreneurs through EforAll Holyoke, and as the Massachusetts
coordinator for Power 4 Puerto Rico, she champions just recovery
and economic self-sufficiency for the island, demonstrating another
way in which public health intersects with national policy, disaster
resilience, and social justice.
In talking about her memoir
and her upcoming appearance
at Rise Up, Barbosa was
reflective on the ways in which
Barbosa
Continued on page H14 >>
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2025 << 2025 HEALTHCARE HEROES >>