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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2021)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | DECEMBER 30, 2021 | 3A HOUSING from A1 The idea for home sharing sprung from the Portland orga- nization’s own solution seeking and Home Share Oregon at- tained its official nonprofit sta- tus just this June. The group’s stated mission is to prevent housing instability, foreclosure, and homelessness through home sharing and to disrupt the housing crisis in Or- egon by encouraging and incen- tivizing homeowners to partici- pate in mitigating the problem. By putting to work underuti- lized housing inventory, like spare bedrooms, Home Share Oregon intends to expand ac- cess to affordable housing through this strategy. “We like to say that we are trying to solve the housing cri- sis in Oregon, one spare room at a time,” said Smith. “It’s a lot more complicated than that, but that really sums it up. Our goal is to assist and facilitate home- owners who have a spare room in finding a safe, compatible, responsible person to rent that room to.” Currently, Home Share Or- egon is running a campaign of education and advertising spe- cific to Lane County and Jack- son County. This was partially made pos- sible by a grant from the State of Oregon which stipulated us- ing home sharing as a way to house people who are survivors of fires. “I have found out recently there are over 200 family units that are still in hotels in Lane County because of the fires over a year ago,” said Smith. “So, we want to help facilitate them finding more permanent housing even if it’s just until their own homes are restored. So that’s part of it, working with fire victims, but honestly we are available to work with anyone in the state.” How Does it Work? Home Share Oregon uses on- line technology to help home- owners find roommates to share their home while partner orga- nizations support renters and homeowners with additional services for home sharing. The nonprofit has partnered with Silvernest, an online plat- form which provides a secure matching process to help find compatible housemates. “I like to say it’s a cross be- tween an Airbnb and a dating app,” said Smith. Though Silvernest is a for-profit company, Home Share Oregon pays up to six months of the fees for the ser- vice for its members, including the cost of criminal background checks. On Silvernest, members build profiles and find match- es based on their preferences. The business states that more than 100,000 people have so far joined the homesharing site. Members can browse each other’s profiles and choose to initiate conversation through the site. “It’s a little safer than, say, putting an ad on Craigslist,” said Smith. “Our goal is com- patibility — finding someone who is compatible and finding someone who is safe. And part of that safety is in asking peo- ple to complete criminal back- ground checks.” Renters and owners are also encouraged to meet in person before moving forward to fur- ther ensure compatibility. Should two parties find a match, Silvernest provides tem- plates for rental agreements, which can be negotiated and personalized by renters and owners. “There is also a clause that says should either party decide this isn’t working, they can they can get out of it with a 30-day notice,” said Smith. “It’s about compatibility and describing in your profile what you’re looking for. Some of it’s tick-the-box — smoker/nonsmoker, pets/no pets — but you get to a point in your profile where you can be very specific.” Home Share Oregon helps fa- cilitate the process by assisting people in creating profiles, pro- viding landlords with tools and generally reducing barriers to people finding housing. “If there’s a homeowner that, let’s say, wants to rent but the door is broken to the room, if we need to help them find somebody to repair that, we can probably do that,” said Smith, adding that potential renters looking for a place to live can also receive assistance. The nonprofit has established four goals and the facilitation of the home sharing matches is just the first of these. It is also hoping, through its program, to shift the cultural norm to accept home sharing as a more stan- dard practice. This shift could help solve some of the housing need in a ground-up process. It may also play into the or- ganization’s third goal, which is working with organizations which deal with natural disas- ters. Smith described her first- hand accounts of a deeper need for aid in cases like the Holiday Farm Fire last year. “I know this for a fact, be- cause I was working for another nonprofit that helps people,” she said. “Red Cross showed up and gave out hotel vouchers, but the hotel vouchers were only good for three days. And some of the hotels were 150 miles away because everything filled up so fast. So having a home own- er Rapid Response Program to just to recruit and train home- owners who are willing to pro- vide housing for families when they’re displaced is part of it.” Lastly, the nonprofit has set a goal to engage in advocacy efforts with local and state gov- ernment, helping to pass initia- tives which are designed to re- duce barriers to home sharing, possibly even creating incentiv- ization for homeowners to rent out rooms. Broadly, Oregon’s housing is- sues can be approached through a multitude of angles, includ- ing addressing the presence of homelessness. But while debates continue at the state and local level about the right approach, Home Share Oregon is provid- ing a solution to just a specific subsection of that population. “We’re not necessarily exclud- ing people that are unhoused, but that’s not who we’re target- ing either,” said Smith. “And I’m not advocating that we shouldn’t help the unhoused — of course we should. And there’s no rea- All-Access Print & Digital Delivery Only 67¢ per week introductory rate *Offer good through 1.31.22. Mention this ad, or use code Winter21 at checkout. son why an unhoused person couldn’t apply. But what we’re focused on is compatibility.” The service was created with renters who already have a de- gree of stability in mind, but Smith said there is room for growth in the nonprofit’s vision. “And I anticipate, as we get bigger and as we build out and we have more inventory for houses, we have a vision for doing things like placing youth that have aged out of the foster care system,” she forecasted. Home Share Oregon’s clien- tele tend to consist of people who either need help making mortgage payments or are look- ing for something more afford- able. “Maybe 50 percent of the people I talked to are older folks with a large home, they want to stay in their home and they need a little more income to do that,” Smith said. “This is a great way to allow seniors to age in place. But there are also people who are struggling to meet their mortgage payments. And if they have a spare room and they can make this work, this gives them income to help reduce that mortgage burden.” The kind of rental agree- ments can be diverse as well. Smith shared that she has seen a homeowner who needed help doing chores and would negoti- ate lower rent for work and an- other who simply wanted tem- porary help due to a disability. Based on U.S. Census data, the Home Share Oregon esti- mates there are some one and half million spare rooms in Or- egon sitting vacant. “And if we were able to rent just two percent of those rooms, we could house 30,000 people. That’s something worth looking at,” said Smith. “It is a unique solution that will work for some people. It’s not going to work for everyone, but here’s the real beauty: every time you find someone and help that match to happen between the homeown- er and the renter, that’s another person housed, which opens up resources for maybe people that aren’t as stable.” For more information, visit homeshareoregon.org or call 503-862-3296. Gamesquall annual ‘convention’ this weekend From noon on Dec. 31 to 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, Gamesquall’s annual “gaming convention” will be held at the Odd Fellows Lodge at 317 E Main St. Only a “convention” in the loos- est sense of the term, participants can enjoy playing board, card, miniature, and role-playing games from the extensive Gamesquall library. There’s no scheduling sys- tem, gift bags or dealer’s room, but there’s plenty of free parking and admission is only zero dollars. Guests can also bring their own games to share with others at this free event. More info can be found at gamesquall.com. Magnolia Gardens holds Cold Weather Coat Drive From Dec. 10 to Jan. 10, Magnolia Gardens Senior Living is holding a Cold Weather Coat Drive to warm the lives of those in need in the community. The senior living center is accept- ing not only coats, but other warm items such as wraps, hats, gloves, scarves, socks and blankets, which will be used to benefit Cottage Grove Community Sharing. Donations can be made by drive- through or drop-off between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day at the facility at 1425 Daugherty Avenue. Items should be clean and in new or like new condition. All sizes are needed. For more information, call Ruth Tracey at 541-942-0054. Subscribe Today for: Local News | Area Business Updates | School Information | Events & Activities | Shopping & Coupon Offers | School Sports | Jobs & Real Estate | Local Opinions | & So Much More This offer is not transferable and the offer is available those who have not subscribed in the last 31 days. 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