Aging Baby Boomers face numerous challenges living independently and aging in place, including isolation and loneliness as their families grow up and move out, friends lose touch or pass on, and living costs grow relative to shrinking incomes as they retire or shift careers. They rarely want to leave their existing homes, and aren’t well served by institutional options. They need new options for Aging in Community.
Our new Living Well Together database-driven website and app can help people learn how to start sharing homes, overcome obstacles, and find suitable homes and housemates.
We believe that we can accelerate the process, providing an on-ramp that will build a “cohouseholding” movement, making sharing an easy option for large parts of this population that is hungry for alternative solutions, and accustomed to remaking society to get its needs met.
Business/Product or Service
A few recently-emerging home-sharing websites offer simple matching and directories, and a handful of local nonprofit social-services organizations across the country make connections costing tens of thousands of dollars per match. Our simple site and app encourage people to make the process sustainable and self-directed by supporting them to first take a personal inventory of their preferences and learn from people with experience living with housemates, in their own home or creating a new community.
Our research found that while Boomers may have shared homes beyond their family decades ago, many aren’t taking the steps to do so now, stymied by fear of loss of privacy and control of their lives, among other challenges.
We’ve partnered with several nationally-known home-sharing book authors and licensed educational materials that guide users through a self-assessment process proven to help people make better decisions and explore new options.
Potential sharers using the site answer a series of questions to determine if cohouseholding is appropriate for them.
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