Simcoe.com showcases the successful home sharing benefiting a Barrie woman and student

A recently launched housing initiative pairing residents with students is a real boon for one household at least.

Homeowner Suzanne Petrie and hospitality student Sahil Sahni have been living in her north-end Barrie home for about two months now as part of a Georgian College partnership with the home sharing platform SpacesShared.

The partnership was launched in May and was designed to link older adults who have a space to rent with students starting their academic careers at the Barrie college. The company stated at the time there would be a stringent screening process in place for both host and student.

Petrie says she was happy with the process.

“That was a real big hook for me with SpacesShared because they stay connected to you the whole time the international student is living with you, and if you have an issue, they encourage you to get a hold of them, and then they want to be part of solving the problem,” she told Simcoe.com.

Petrie adds having a trusted presence in her home when she’s not there is reassuring.

“I like having somebody in the house because very often, I’m not here. I have a trailer up in Huntsville,” she pointed out. “I don’t want the house sitting empty in a habitual kind of way. Because people notice those things.”

Meanwhile, Sahni points out it that aids in cost of living, while he’s also happy with his new roommate.

“We have no interference in each other’s business at all. And we meet up all the time. It’s like … I don’t know how to explain that relationship, but it’s very healthy, I’ll say,” he said.

Sahni adds that as an international student, having someone who knows the lay of the land was a helpful way of transitioning to life in Barrie.

“She showed me all the ways and everything. And basically, she motivated me how to start my life here,” he concluded.

The college admits there was minimal uptick at the onset of the semester, while Petrie says folks should give it a second thought.

“I would just say, get a hold of SpacesShared and talk to them. Because I think they’ll put your mind at ease about giving it a go.”

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