For Sister Judy O’Brien, I.H.M., serving others is part of who she is. So she is excited to lead Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center, where helping others is part of the mission.

The nonprofit’s board of directors announced O’Brien as its new president and CEO this week. She will start on Sept. 21.

The Boston native comes to the organization during a time of transition.

Its current president and CEO, Meghan Loftus, is departing this fall. The two Catholic-faith-based nonprofits, founded in 1984 and 1986, respectively — which provide housing, shelter, food, clothing and other assistance to those in need — announced they had completed a merger Aug. 1. The merged entity took both names with a new title of “Friends of the Poor and Catherine McAuley Center,” and Loftus became president and CEO.

The merger came in response to increased needs for housing and shelter for disadvantaged families and growing food insecurity among marginalized residents, officials said.

Loftus joined the Friends of the Poor nine years ago as the first layperson to lead that organization and then became president/CEO of the combined FOTP/CMC agency as part of the merger. She said in June she would stay at the helm into fall to give the agency time to search for and select a new leader and make a transition.

O’Brien has worked closely with Loftus over the years with her position on the IHM congregation’s leadership team, and she commended Loftus on her work leading the organization.

“Megan’s done a great job over the last years,” O’Brien said in an interview Friday.

As president and CEO, she sees it as her responsibility to create an organization in which the mission and responsibilities of both groups become one.

“I think it is the job of the new president to make that happen so that in the upcoming years, it will be seen as one organization and not two,” O’Brien said.

She plans to spend her first few months in the role listening to people in the organization about what they want for its future. Long-term, O’Brien wants it to be a vital force in the area for eradicating poverty and homelessness.

O’Brien said she looks forward to leading a team that has people, particularly vulnerable people, at its heart and mission.

“I think there’s a great team there that has really put together a great organization,” she said.

A career of service to others

O’Brien’s career has included roles as principal of two Catholic schools in Massachusetts, director of human relationships for the Diocese of Rockville Centre in Rockville Centre, New York, and director of housing for Persons Living with AIDS at the INN of Long Island and Providence House in New York City.

She is no stranger to Scranton, having worked as an assistant to the president at St. Joseph’s Center and a counselor on the leadership team of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation in Scranton.

O’Brien holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Marywood University, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, and a certification in spiritual direction from the Center for Spirituality and Justice in New York City.

The board said in a statement she has spent her career dedicated to strengthening organizations and serving individuals and communities in need.

“We are very pleased to welcome Sister Judy O’Brien as the new CEO of Friends of the Poor and the Catherine McAuley Center,” the board said in a statement. “Her extensive leadership experience, commitment to service and demonstrated ability to bring people together will serve our organization and the communities we serve extremely well.”

Memories of founders

Friends of the Poor was founded by the late Sister Adrian Barrett, I.H.M., who was also known as “Sister Sneakers.” Named for the Irish Catholic founder of the Sisters of Mercy in 1831 in Ireland, the Catherine McAuley Center in Scranton was founded by the late Sister Anne Paye, a former dean and professor at Misericordia University, where she was known as Sister Mary Paul.

O’Brien knew Paye and was friends with Barrett and looked up to her when she was young. She said she’s glad to have memories of both women as she becomes president and CEO, which she sees as a wonderful opportunity.

“I just see it as an incredible opportunity at this moment in my religious life to be able to do this and be a part of it,” O’Brien said. “I know it will stretch me and just afford me a wonderful opportunity to be with so many people.”