MEDINA, Ohio – Over the last 31 years, Skip Sipos thinks many people in Medina County have come to understand the value of affordable housing options and he said he hopes that momentum continues for many years to come.
“The demand continues to be there, especially for seniors and those with disabilities,” said Sipos, who has served as executive director of the Medina Metropolitan Housing Authority since 1994. “It is also important for young families and for employers desperate for find workers.”
Sipos, who will retire from his position Jan. 2, said he saw an advertisement in the newspaper for the position at MMHA in March of 1994. He had spent eight years serving as the executive director for the Buckeye Area Development Corporation in Cleveland and wanted to relocate to a safe and family-friendly community where he could raise his young daughter.
“I’m glad that we have been able to expand the list of properties and programs that we oversee,” Sipos said. “We have developed new properties and have redeveloped old properties and I think we have increased awareness about the value of affordable housing. Also, here in Medina County many agencies are great about working together. We work with the mental health and recovery board and manage properties for them and the board of developmental disabilities and we work with veterans’ services.”
Also under Sipos’ leadership, the MMHA opened Medina County’s first emergency housing shelter, Next Step Up, which has 27 beds and serves men, women and children.
A 10-unit apartment building which will be called The Lafayette is scheduled to be completed next year. This building will service individuals with disabilities who are experiencing a housing crisis.
A successor for Sipos has not yet been announced, but the MMHA board is working with a consultant to select a new executive director and will make a decision in a public session in the future.
Even after retirement, Sipos said he will be available to the MMHA for advice and input.
“I think it’s only fair to my successor that I stay away for a year or so to let them get established,” he said. “But I will be around. I might take my therapy dog up to the shelter and visit.”