Massachusetts Appoints First Latina Housing Secretary

Editor’s Note: Para la versión en español de este artículo, visita El Planeta.

BOSTON — As rising housing costs and limited supply continue to strain families, workers, and businesses across Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey has appointed Juana Matías as the state’s next Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities. She is the first Latina to hold the role.

The state’s current housing crisis is largely driven by a deep shortage of homes, especially affordable ones, combined with high construction costs, tight zoning restrictions, and interest rates that continue to make buying a home expensive. According to the state’s first-ever five-year housing plan, “A Home for Everyone,” Massachusetts will need to add an estimated 222,000 homes between 2025 and 2035 to meet projected demand and avoid further price escalation.

Matías’ appointment also comes as housing inequality remains closely tied to broader racial wealth gaps. The recent “¡Vamos Massachusetts!” report from We Are ALX and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation found that homeownership is a key driver of housing disparity, noting that in 2023, nearly a third of Latinos in the state owned a home.

More than 887,000 Latinos live in Massachusetts, according to current Census figures.

“My appointment is an intentional appointment,” Matías said at an April 1 Spanish-language press conference at the State House. “We have this opportunity to speak with the Latino press because we have a Latina secretary who can communicate directly with our community and ensure that the public knows about the work that is already being done.”

Despite persistent gaps in wealth indicators, there are signs of progress. In 2023, nearly 95,000 homes in Massachusetts were owned by Latino households — more than double the figure from a decade earlier. 

“Juana brings with her a deep understanding of housing policy from her time as U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator and a longtime commitment to Massachusetts. We’re excited to further our housing agenda and look forward to working with Juana to meet this moment,” said Governor Healey in a statement. 

Matías acknowledged that more work is needed to increase the number of homeowners in the state.

“We are not only committed to building apartments,” Matías said. “We want the American Dream to continue, and we want our communities to be able to buy their first home and achieve that dream.”

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Lawrence, Matías has risen to become one of the highest-ranking Latina officials in the Massachusetts government. That trajectory started at HUD, where she managed billions of dollars in federal housing funds across New England, overseeing rental assistance programs, public housing, and homelessness initiatives.

“I see it as a commitment to bring forward and understand the challenges that the Latino community faces. It is much more complex than for other groups,” she said.

Part of Matías’ role will focus on improving public communication about housing resources, especially for communities that may not be aware of what is available to them. Access to housing assistance remains uneven, Matías noted, particularly among Latino residents who can face additional barriers tied to immigration status or program eligibility requirements.

Matías also addressed concerns about potential displacement amid rising rents and new development pressures in gateway cities outside Boston, where affordability challenges are already acute. According to 2025 data, about 31% of renter households in Chelsea are severely cost-burdened, as rising rents continue to strain low- and moderate-income residents.

“One of the things I appreciate from my experience in Lawrence, a gateway city like Chelsea cannot concentrate on poverty,” Matías said. “We need people from different income levels to come into a community in order to diversify it.” 

She added that poverty concentration can affect public schools and other outcomes, arguing that communities need both affordable and market-rate housing to remain balanced and stable.

Still, Matías said the administration’s goal is to expand housing supply without displacing existing communities, a challenge she acknowledged is central to the state’s broader housing strategy.

State officials note that about 100,000 housing units are already approved, under construction, recently completed, or in the pipeline toward occupancy across Massachusetts.

“Part of my job is to reach that Dominican family, that immigrant family with a dream,” Matías said.

Rosanna Marinelli is a multimedia correspondent for The Latino Newsletter and the News Editor at El Planeta.

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Julio Ricardo Varela edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.

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