Luddy Looks Ahead To State Rep Tenure

ORLEANS – Hadley Luddy is getting ready to officially take elected office as the state representative for the Fourth Barnstable District next month, but she’s not leaving Orleans behind.

 Luddy, who ran unopposed for the seat formerly held by longtime representative Sarah Peake, said last week that she will continue in her role as CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council after she is sworn into office.

 “It’s not uncommon for state reps to work outside of their government roles while they’re serving, so I feel really lucky that I’m able to carve out the additional (time) to do something that’s really important to me,” said Luddy, who has led the Orleans-based nonprofit since 2016. “We have a great plan in place and have made some staffing adjustments, and we’re hoping it goes very, very well.”

 A native of Amherst, Luddy has lived in Orleans since 1996. She first came to Cape Cod for a visit while in high school, and eventually began coming back regularly to work during summers while completing her undergraduate and master’s degree work. 

 “I came down with some friends to visit, and I just fell in love with the beaches and the environment,” she said. “I couldn’t believe how amazing it was here, and I really wanted to find a way to keep coming back.”

 Before arriving at the Homeless Prevention Council, Luddy started working for what is now the state Department of Children and Families, where she helped recruit households to foster and adopt children. That led to work with the nonprofits Community Connections in South Yarmouth and later Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod and the Islands, where she served as executive director. 

 Luddy then took the opportunity to take on some consulting work, including for HPC.

 “It was something where I went in thinking I’d be there for an interim period of six months, and it’s been about nine years,” she said of her work with the council.

Growing up, Luddy said, her parents impressed upon her and her siblings the importance of recognizing the need that exists among others in their community. Over time that came to influence her decision to pursue a career rooted in community building and nonprofit work. Particularly formative was her work with Upward Bound as an undergraduate student at University of Massachusetts Boston. The program aimed to help at-risk high school students in the area.

“That definitely sparked a real interest in me around program development and connecting resources with opportunity,” she said.

At the encouragement of some in the community, Luddy decided to make a run for the Fourth Barnstable seat. Peake announced she would not seek re-election to a ninth term in January and has since resigned the seat to take a senior advisor role in the Healey Administration.

Luddy said she sees her new state representative role as a continuation of her work with HPC. Much of her work with the council overlaps with the broader needs facing the district, she said, namely issues such as housing and economic stability. 

“It felt like a really natural step for me to take,” she said. “And these opportunities don’t come up very often, right? Rep. Peake was in office for 18 years. It’s one of those things where when the opportunity arises, if you have any inclination to run for office, you’ve got to take the leap.”

The issues facing the Fourth Barnstable District — which includes the towns of Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet — are wide ranging, chief among them environmental protection and the need for more year-round housing. 

But Luddy said there are other needs that can only be addressed by reaching out directly to her constituents. She said she plans to set up regular office hours in each district town, where residents can come to her with their issues and ideas.

“We have such a large area to cover in the Fourth Barnstable, to me, the most effective way to connect with folks is to actually go to the towns where people are,” she said.

But while the issues facing the district and the Cape at large are many, Luddy said she’s excited and optimistic about what she and her fellow legislators can get done on Beacon Hill.

“I really think at this time in our country, Massachusetts without a doubt really leads in so many areas, and we can do even better and keep our work going, and I look forward to being part of that next chapter,” she said.