The rent was too high. Then she met her 77-year-old roommate.
Affordable rent, useful help, and Jeopardy at 7.
$650 AND JEOPARDY AT 7.
In 2023, HomeShare Vermont matched 31-year-old Kayla Mazza, who needed affordable housing near her new job, with 77-year-old Honey Donegan, who had a spare room and wanted a compatible housemate. Three years later, the arrangement is both practical and genuinely social.
WHAT HAPPENED
Mazza pays $650 a month plus a share of utilities, below the $1,000-plus rooms she said she was seeing locally. In return, she helps Donegan with things such as cooking, grocery shopping, rides to appointments, pet care and winter wood-stacking. They also hike, swim, walk the dogs, read and watch Jeopardy together most weeknights. HomeShare Vermont has used screened, needs-based matching since 1982; its official model pairs a private room with rent, household help or both.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
Housing is expensive. Aging can be isolating. The unexpectedly functional answer here is two people 46 years apart sharing one home in a way that makes both lives cheaper and better. Extremely inconvenient for the theory that generations are doomed to hate each other.
ORIGINAL SOURCEGood Good Good / HomeShare VermontRead the original report
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