Bed-Stuy Seniors Start Co-Living to Ward Off Gentrifiers

• Pictured: City officials explain the Home Sharing program to Bedford-Stuyvesant seniors. Photo courtesy of Kings County Politics

By Kings County Politics News Service

About 30 seniors gathered last week at the Akwaaba Mansion on McDonough Street in Stuyvesant Heights to hear about a city program that helps senior homeowners better manage their bills, allows for more senior housing and allows for many longtime residents to stay in the neighborhood that they love and live in.

The state and city-funded program, called Home Sharing, matches senior citizens with comparable persons of any age in shared living arrangements in homes throughout the city.

It's a unique and affordable housing option that is available throughout the five boroughs — and has shown extra promise in other Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Sheepshead Bay, which like Bed-Stuy has a large and growing Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC).

“Housing is an issue in the neighborhood, especially for seniors. A lot of seniors lost their homes to foreclosures, and a lot don’t rent out rooms because of fear,” explained Stefani Zinerman Chief of Staff for City Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr., whose office sponsored the forum on the Home Sharing Program. “Older people shouldn’t be in shelters or homeless.”

Zinerman explained that there are a growing number of seniors that are longterm residents that want to stay in the neighborhood that they’ve called home for may years, and at the same time there are a number of homeowners that are also seniors and whose children moved away, but are more comfortable living in Bed-Stuy where they have planted down roots.

“This is the a type of housing to explore if we want to keep our seniors in the neighborhood,” she said, adding Home Sharing provides companionship, which leads to a longer life, helps with financial burdens and relieves feelings of loneliness.

The way the program works is the non-profit New York State Foundation for Senior Citizens (NYSFSC) links prospective adult “hosts,” who have a private bedroom available within their homes with appropriate adult “guest” to share their space.

One of the “matchmates” must be age 60 or over. The program also serves adult hosts age 55 and over, who are interested in sharing their homes with developmentally disabled adult “guest” capable of independent living.

The NYSFSC provides professional social work staff that does comprehensive confidential screening and matching services that includes among other things employment history, medical and mental health history. Once the match is made, the staff assists with the negotiated shared living arrangements, in which the host can’t ask for more than half of what they pay for monthly living expenses, but other than that everything is negotiable.

If things don’t work out the host must give the guest a 30-day notice. There is no charge for the Home Sharing program’s matching service.

Following the presentation, all the participants went around the room and introduced themselves. Several were senior homeowners with rooms to share that wanted to stay in the neighborhood and mentioned the need to share expenses and have a little companionship.

Others were still active, needed a place to live and were willing to take out the garbage and do other chores plus pay some rent. Several people on hand actually started the beginnings of what looked like a good match.

To apply, seniors must fax their contact info — along with a copy of their photo ID, proof of income and three professional character reference letters — to (212) 227-2952, under the header "Attention: Home Sharing."

For further information on the Home Sharing program, visit NYFSC.org or call (212) 962-7559.

A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site.