New Roommate Service Debuts in MontCo

“Empty nesters” and cost-burdened renters may be an ideal match in a new Pennsylvania-sponsored option.

Those looking for creative solutions to ease the pressures of our affordable housing crisis may have a new alternative, which borrows concepts from the sharing leconomy that has grown in recent years. Family Services Montgomery County recently introduced SHARE.

How it works

This free service includes roommate screening and matching services for people who agree to cohabitate. For instance, a widow or single homeowner may have extra bedrooms and wouldn’t mind extra socialization from a new housemate. That creates an opportunity for an affordable room.

In MontCo, about half of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent (a figure used by the federal government to gauge affordability). Several other counties in Pennsylvania are already participating, with funding from the PA Department of Aging.

How to apply

Email Deborah Solodar at dsolodar@fsmontco.org or call (484) 682-7804.

For more information, visit https://fsmontco.org/what-we-do/housing.

Affordability has become such a crisis across the U.S. that in Milpitas, California, the school district sent a note to parents last year asking them to allow teachers to move in and rent a room. That’s sort of the idea behind SHARE in MontCo.