Staff

John Brothers, Executive Director

John led the Quincy YMCA’s Community Development and Membership Departments as the Associate Executive Director.  He expanded the Germantown Neighborhood Center and created many new programs serving residents of Quincy. Under his leadership, QARI has developed a variety of services to individuals and organizations in Quincy including Adult English Classes, leadership, mentoring and service programs for high school students, cultural competency training for public and private organizations seeking to serve the South Shore’s newcomer population, civic participation activities, and multi-lingual Information and Referral Services for immigrants.

Melissa Lee-Mei, Information and Referral Specialist

Melissa began working at QARI in January of 2007. She speaks English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, and has strong experience in Information and Referral needs for the Asian community. Melissa is skilled in translation of public and private documents; assisting clients in completing the immigration and citizenship processes; applications for public housing/health insurance/food stamp benefits; and is networked to provide referral services for a wide variety of issues.  Additionally, Melissa is SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Elders) trained, and frequently coordinates and participates in groups and events which focus on assisting elder clients. Melissa's many events include: health seminars for elders on topics such as Talking to Your Doctor and Nutrition; meetings with organizations that specifically serve elders; and teaching Survival English for Asian Elders at public housing.

AmeriCorps*VISTA Volunteers

One of QARI’s longest supporting partners is the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Since 2004, QARI has had the opportunity to work with full-time AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers. AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers coordinate agency programs and assist the agency to connect to the Chinese and Vietnamese speaking community.

Christine Nguyen

From Houston, Texas with a degree in Political Science from the University of Texas in Austin, Christine is one of the program coordinators for QARI’s youth leadership program, Discovering Unique Careers. She also works to expand QARI’s Vietnamese outreach, as well as helping to organize QARI events, such as the Lunar New Year Festival.

Samantha Chen

A native of Alameda, California, Samantha went to school at Emory University in Atlanta, where she graduated with a degree in Anthropology and Human Biology. She will serve as one of the coordinators of QARI's Discovering Unique Careers program and help to organize the agency's cultural events, such as the Lunar New Year and August Moon Festival.

Work Study Staff

QARI is proud to participate in the UMass Boston work study program.  Several multi-lingual work-study students are available between 9:30AM and 5PM daily to assist clients with all issues.  Students are trained and assisted by the I&R Specialist to best serve clients.  We are actively seeking work-study students year-round to better serve our community.  Please consider us if you have Asian language skills and are seeking work-study employment as a UMass Boston student!