Homeshare: an intergenerational win-win

Last week, I got to share space in the kind of room that is quickly becoming my favourite: more than 25 older adults joined us at events in Kitchener-Waterloo and Brantford to learn more about how they could open their homes to students attending Laurier campuses in those communities.All of them shared the same concerns about rising costs, and were eager to learn about a new way to help add some income, while having some extra hands to help with things like snow-shoveling or bringing in the bins on garbage day. And all of them shared the same excitement about being able to offer students a leg-up through safe, affordable rent, that would help them to be our next generation of leaders and thinkers.That win-win is why I got into this.My career has been all about postsecondary students, and creating real and lasting solutions to the problems they face. One of the greatest social challenges they’re up against? Affordable housing. The idea for SpacesShared came from a consultation I did on mental health for Colleges Ontario. Every student leader I spoke to identified housing as a priority – it didn’t matter where they were in Ontario. One student leader said to me, ‘We always think about therapeutic interventions when we talk about student mental health, but the reality is, you can’t counsel me out of food, economic- or housing insecurity.’ Though that comment is really obvious, it was very profound for me.SpacesShared is the digital platform I co-founded that matches vetted students with older adults who are keen to rent their spare bedroom for some extra income and light help around the house.We’re not the first to have this idea; it’s been done before in Canada. But none of those programs could be sustainably scaled and so they fizzled out. We are the first to layer in technology and automation to build a two-way marketplace that can scale sustainably. Our approach is about finding practical solutions that are built to truly solve the problem at hand and create the greatest impact.My vision is for SpacesShared to become one of many Canadian businesses using technology to generate widespread and lasting social good. And I also see a world where we come together in creating real-life community thanks to the connections we can make virtually. So I want to thank the kind and curious folks I met with this week for coming out and speaking with us. If you are an older adult with a spare bedroom, or you know someone with space to share, you don’t have to wait for us to come to your community. Learn more by signing up as a host, speaking with our support team, or checking out our FAQs. We can’t wait to meet you, and neither can students.About Rylan Kinnon
Rylan has spent a decade working in postsecondary advocacy, policy, program administration, and technology. As a partnership and consensus builder, Rylan believes in engaging as broad a base of stakeholders as possible when developing solutions to complex problems. Rylan has experience managing large teams and scaling technology companies.

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