JALSA in The Boston Globe on Strategies for Addressing Massachusetts' Housing Crisis

Full letter to the editor of The Boston Globe at this link.

We should all be homesharing

Thanks to Shira Schoenberg for her recent editorial, “Could ‘Golden Girls’-style homesharing solve the state’s housing woes?” (Opinion, June 28), highlighting both the severity of Massachusetts’ housing crisis and one promising solution. The encouraging news is that we are already proving it can work.

For the past two years, Jewish Family Service of Metrowest has operated a pilot Home-Share program connecting older homeowners struggling to maintain their homes with community members seeking affordable housing. The idea is simple: Help neighbors help one another.

The results have exceeded expectations. Twenty participants have successfully shared their homes, creating stable, affordable housing while allowing homeowners to remain safely in place. Participants report greater financial security, increased disposable income, and significantly reduced loneliness. As one homesharer said, “I came looking for a place to live, but I found a family.”

Massachusetts faces a shortage of an estimated 220,000 housing units over the next decade. While homesharing alone will not solve the crisis, it is one of the fastest, most cost-effective, and immediately scalable strategies because it makes better use of existing housing. Paired with accessory dwelling units and other innovative approaches, homesharing can become an important part of the Commonwealth’s housing solution. Now is the time to invest in expanding these proven models.

Lino Covarrubias
Framingham
The writer is the CEO of the Jewish Family Service of Metrowest.

Cindy Rowe
Boston
The writer is president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action