Please join us as we continue our journey to understand local action being taken to ensure the right mix of housing options for our community. This time, we will hear from Hingham Housing Authority (HHA) Chair Janine Suchecki and James Marathas, the executive director of the Quincy Housing Authority. Bring your questions!
Zoom Meeting ID: 864 6848 1879 Passcode: 02043
A local housing authority (LHA) plays a critical role in providing affordable housing to low-income families and individuals in Massachusetts. The HHA, our LHA, is responsible for a broad range of issues, including setting policy and by-laws, advocating for low-income housing and the interests of the residents, maintaining good community relations, supporting tenant participation in the administration of public housing and ensuring adherence to DHCD (Massachusetts, Department of Housing and Community Development) rules and regulations. HHA operates with a five-member board compromised of residents, the Quincy Housing Authority in its entirety as the role of executive director, and a local staff.
About James Marathas
James Marathas has over 30 years of experience in housing and construction. Before working as the Executive Director of the Quincy Housing Authority (QHA), he worked for the Department of Housing and Community Development holding various positions including Director of Facilities which allowed him to travel throughout Massachusetts and work with hundreds of public housing authorities. In 2014, he joined the QHA and uncovered and corrected several serious health and safety violations. in 2015, he became the QHA Executive Director. In late 2019, the Hingham Housing Authority invited the James and QHA to be the Executive Director for Hingham. Since taking over this role, residents have received access to new programming, health and safety corrections were made, and HHA was awarded an $100,000 placemaking grant.
About Janine Suchecki
Janine, a lifelong Hingham resident, was elected to the Hingham Housing Authority in 2019, and currently serves as chair. In her short time on the HHA, Janine has helped set over 20 new policies, hired a new executive director with a management agreement, and connected the residents at Thaxter Park and the Commander Anderson House with community services and student projects. When she is not busy with the HHA, Janine stays busy as the Public Affairs Officer of the Hingham Veterans Council through her work in substance abuse prevention for the town of Cohasset. Janine is also a co-founder of the Hingham Link, a a volunteer service connecting people that want to help with people that need help.