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Press Contact: Alyse Booth 718-643-4877/917-648-1382
For Immediate Release: Nov. 16, 2007

Searching for affordable housing in New York City has become almost as difficult as finding your perfect love match, but now all adult New Yorkers – regardless of age – can use New York Foundation for Senior Citizens’ free Home Sharing matching service to find the perfect housing mate. Home Sharing’s professional staff, personally and carefully screen housing “matchmates” to help busy New Yorkers find or maintain an affordable place to live.

Here is how Home Sharing works: Prospective adult “hosts,” who have private bedrooms available within their homes, are matched with appropriate adult “guests” to share their living spaces. One of the “matchmates” must be age 60 or over. In addition, the program matches hosts ages 55 and over with adults with a developmental disability capable of independent living.

Using a new computer matching system, the Foundation’s professional staff inputs 31 preferences and characteristics to help them come up with the perfect match. “When we introduce hosts and guests for the first time, they know immediately if it will be a perfect match,” says Linda Hoffman, President, New York Foundation for Senior Citizens. “Either there is chemistry or there isn’t.”

Says Sandra Thaxter, a software consultant working in Manhattan, “Home Sharing is a great solution to a difficult problem– finding a comfortable, affordable, safe place to live in New York City.” As a result of Home Sharing, Thaxter is living in a brownstone in Brooklyn’s trendy Boerum Hill neighborhood. “One of the best things about Home Sharing is you don’t have to pay a broker’s fee. I enjoy talking to the interesting couple who are sharing their lovely home with me.”

The benefits of Home Sharing include providing safe, affordable housing, easing financial burdens, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness and providing companionship and a sense of security. Prior to the move in, the service offers a license agreement to help hosts and guests feel secure in their shared arrangement. Guests contribute toward hosts’ monthly household expenses and, in some cases, provide household help or other services in exchange for reduced payment.

To learn more about the free Home Sharing service, please call 212-962-7559 or email aforsman@nyfscltcop.org. You may also visit www.nyfsc.org.

Home Sharing is funded by New York State and New York City legislators, New York State Office for the Aging, New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, New York City Department for the Aging and private contributions. Established in 1968, New York Foundation for Senior Citizens is the only non-profit, non-sectarian organization serving New York’s seniors in all five boroughs. NYFSC is dedicated to helping New York’s seniors enjoy healthier, safer, and more productive and dignified lives. ###