Pat Arato and Rose Devlin sip tea from china cups and contemplate their common interests in the cosy living room of Arato’s century-old home.

“We both like watching documentaries,” Devlin, 63, says. “When we get Netflix, we’ll be crazy!”

“Rose likes cooking and I like eating,” Arato, 78, offers.

The ease of the women’s banter suggests they’ve been friends for years, though they just met recently. The two long-time residents of Cobourg, a town of 18,500 people about an hour and a half east of Toronto, were matched through a Northumberland County HomeShare project. The program strives to allow seniors to stay in their homes by matching them with a person who needs housing and is willing to help with household tasks in return for reduced rent. Companionship is another benefit.

The Northumberland two-year pilot program is a joint effort of Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre, The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit and Northumberland County and is geared only to women. Halton Region also has launched a HomeShare program, open to both men and women, through Halton Housing Help, a service that connects people to housing supports. The Burlington Age-Friendly Council initiated the idea and works with the region to promote it. The program will serve Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville and the first match is pending, with the goal to make 10 matches within a year. Northumberland hopes to make 10 matches in two years.

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Devlin, 63, had been living with her son and his family in a rental house. But when they moved to a smaller house, there was no room for Devlin and her search for an affordable apartment proved futile. (The vacancy rate in Northumberland is 0.5 per cent and average rent for a one-bedroom suite is $900, plus utilities. Approximately 20 per cent of the county’s population is 65 years or older).

Devlin, who is diabetic, heard about HomeShare from her nurse. Arato’s adult children were concerned about their 78-year-old mother living alone and urged her to try a six-month trial at a retirement home. It wasn’t to her liking and she yearned to be back in her own house.

Arato founded the Aphasia Institute in Toronto, a centre that provides support for people affected by aphasia (loss of language) as a result of a stroke/brain injury after her estranged husband was affected. She moved to Cobourg 20 years ago. Devlin has lived in the area for 40 years and worked as a word press operator and typesetter. The women, both divorced and with two grandchildren each, were matched by HomeShare co-ordinator Taylor Collicott after a five-step screening and application process.

“Cobourg and Port Hope are experiencing a housing crisis because of the low vacancy rate and with the cost of rents, there are people who can’t afford to live in the community,” Collicott says. Senior women lack affordable quality housing, she says.

“I really liked the idea of having someone in the house for safety and companionship,” Arato says. “The program fit my needs. My family was very concerned about me being alone. I had to find a way to make them feel comfortable,” she says.

“The most important thing for me was to be somewhere safe and be matched with someone who is easy to get along with,” says Devlin, who will pay Arato $400 a month in rent.

HomeShare programs have been running successfully in other parts of Canada and around the world. Both Northumberland and Halton have taken cues from a successful 35-year program in Vermont as they both look to match people with common routines, lifestyles and expectations. They also provide followup monitoring and support. While Northumberland’s program is a two-year pilot, Halton’s is a long-term initiative.

“Long-term care facilities used to be the go-to solution for seniors,” says Daryl Kaytor of Halton Region Housing Services. However, long wait lists and high cost mean they are no longer accessible to most Canadians.

“Barring having new development — and there’s nowhere left to build in this area — we need to be creative to keep seniors in their homes,” Kaytor says.

“Housing (for seniors) is a huge issue, not only in our community but across Canada and globally,” says Heather Thompson, co-chair of the housing committee of the Burlington Age Friendly Council and manager of Age-Friendly Initiatives, Community Development Halton.

In Burlington, 19.3 per cent of the population is older adults. Many still live in their homes and want to stay there. Thompson says most homeowners expressing interest in the program are older women living alone, along with some senior couples who want to stay in their home but need some assistance to do so. Home seekers have included a young couple who want to help an older person and save money for their own future home and some single men with handymen skills. Most interest is from women in their 50s or 60s who still have to work and may be widowed or separated and still feel they can do a lot and want to give back.

Collicott says in Northumberland, most home seekers are mature women.

Devlin and Arato moved in together in late June and are adjusting to life as roommates. As Arato had been away for six months at the retirement home, they have some organizing to do and will work on the backyard gardens. Arato is also planning to get a cat.

“We fit pretty well and haven’t had a fight so far,” Arato says. “There’s a comfort level.”

“I’ll help Pat with whatever she needs and we will look out for each and make sure we take our medications,” Devlin says. “Pat wanted someone to be around in the evening and overnight, and I’m home a lot at night. We have similar bedtimes and we’re both flexible and adaptable.”

While the women will spend a lot of time in each other’s company, they maintain their own circles of friends and much of the lives they had before. For example, Devlin will continue to care for her grandchildren on Mondays.

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Each HomeShare agreement is unique, with the participants working out the terms, such as splitting grocery costs, preparing and eating meals together, what tasks the home sharer will do around the house and how many hours of help the homeowner will receive.

The Burlington Age-Friendly Council has created a HomeShare Toolkit for people to work through to determine if it’s the right fit for them.

“It’s good for many, but it’s not for everyone,” Thompson says. “It’s nice for people to have different options to think about.”