Stefanie Coxe will join Housing Assistance Corporation, overseeing the company’s marketing, communications, advocacy and government affairs activities.
“The housing crisis has the public desperate for solutions and looking to HAC for leadership; we can’t afford to remain on the sidelines of housing policy and advocacy,” said Housing Assistance CEO Alicia Magnotta. “Moving forward, we need to do more to address the underlying housing supply shortage that is pushing locals off-Cape in droves so that our frontline staff have options for the hundreds of clients seeking our assistance. Stefanie brings to the table the skills, expertise, and experience needed to lead that effort, and I am thrilled to team up. We can fast track our marketing and advocacy efforts with the expertise Stefanie and Ann bring. Together, we’re stronger.”
As a Smarter Cape consultant, Coxe successfully passed zoning bylaws in most Cape towns to allow accessory dwelling units. As the Executive Director of the Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts, Coxe led the charge during the pandemic to advocate for meaningful reforms and resourcing of the state’s emergency rental assistance program, which resulted in preventing over 80,000 evictions statewide.
As a private citizen, Coxe serves as the Acting Chair of the Yarmouth Finance Committee and helped the town recently take a significant first step towards building critical wastewater infrastructure.
Coxe’s relationships and experience with the Cape’s political leadership go back two decades. She worked as an aide for two state representatives and a U.S. Congressman representing the Cape over her career and owns Nexus Werx LLC, a political consulting and lobbying training company.
As a consultant for HAC, she co-authored the organization’s 2018 report “Housing on Cape Cod: The High Cost of Doing Nothing.”
In addition, HAC hired Ann Schiffenhaus to work under Coxe as the Director of Community Relations and Advocacy. As a former high level account executive, she will use her entrepreneurial skills and mindset to help employers engage in housing advocacy. Schiffenhaus joins Scott Lajoie, Director of Government Affairs, in the External Affairs Department.
Between July and December, 291 households, most with good incomes and rental history, came to Housing Assistance for help because their landlord was selling their home and they couldn’t find a year-round rental. In the sales market, median sales prices more than doubled in the last 10 years, going from $315,000 in March 2012 to $650,000 in March 2022.
A 14th-generation Cape Codder, Coxe said, “I want to make sure that another fourteen generations can live here. We’re rapidly losing the sustainability of our home. The Cape is in the fight of its life; it’s now or never. But with the engagement of other locals who love our community, I know we can turn the tide.”
