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| Just a group of women having a ball! |
It was September 14, 1985, and “Golden Girls” characters Dorothy Zbornak, Rose Nylund, Blanche Devereaux, and Sophia Petrillo had stumbled upon something great. The four older women in the 80’s NBC sitcom lived together in a home in Miami, Florida, offering each other friendship and companionship in their golden years. Today, this arrangement is called "Shared Housing" and it has emerged as an actual retirement strategy.
What are the benefits to shared housing?
Shared housing allows participants to improve or maintain a certain standard of living that they may not be able to afford since leaving the workforce or becoming single or widowed. Instead of coming home to an empty house or apartment, they come home to a group of gals/guys who share their life and interests. Shared housing often allows seniors to “age in place,” close to the communities and amenities, such as transportation, healthcare and other services, they had been used to having for many years.
According to AARP and reported recently by Reuters in 2010 there were approximately 130,000 Golden-Girl type households across the country. That’s approximately 480,000 baby boomer women living with at least one female, non-relative roommate and no spouses.Shared housing allows participants to improve or maintain a certain standard of living that they may not be able to afford since leaving the workforce or becoming single or widowed. Instead of coming home to an empty house or apartment, they come home to a group of gals/guys who share their life and interests. Shared housing often allows seniors to “age in place,” close to the communities and amenities, such as transportation, healthcare and other services, they had been used to having for many years.
Getting the right match is important
In Baltimore, Maryland, NeighborWorks affiliate St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center uses a match-up process that ensures all homeowners and potential renters get the right fit. The screening process includes a background check, verification of income and a home inspection, and applicants must provide a list of their interests and living preferences.
Like what you hear so far?
Register today for NeighborWorks’ next symposium in Atlanta, Georgia on August 10, which will focus on ensuring safe, healthy homes and communities for seniors. The day will include discussions on a broad range of issues and opportunities for seniors as homeowners and renters, including a session on Aging in Place, where Rebecca Sheppard with St. Ambrose will talk about shared housing.
In Baltimore, Maryland, NeighborWorks affiliate St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center uses a match-up process that ensures all homeowners and potential renters get the right fit. The screening process includes a background check, verification of income and a home inspection, and applicants must provide a list of their interests and living preferences.
Like what you hear so far?
Register today for NeighborWorks’ next symposium in Atlanta, Georgia on August 10, which will focus on ensuring safe, healthy homes and communities for seniors. The day will include discussions on a broad range of issues and opportunities for seniors as homeowners and renters, including a session on Aging in Place, where Rebecca Sheppard with St. Ambrose will talk about shared housing.
The National Shared Housing Resource Center also has more information, including a directory of local shared housing opportunities for seniors.
2 comments:
If any group could pull this off with style it's the Baby Boomers. It actually sounds like a fun and functional way to live out the Golden Years. Why not pool the resources of friends to help each other and live under the same roof. Everybody spends time together anyway. Never gave it much thought until reading this.
Unisex shared living appeals to some, but we have found many benefits to co-ed shared living in the traditional family model (me, my wife, my childhood friend, and her 98 year old mother who needed the handicap suite I built originally for my wife's mother (now deceased). We share space, expenses, and chores equally and the intellectual dynamic far exceeds that of living separately. We recommend it.
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