Home Sharing Offers Creative, Affordable Housing Solutions

You may not have heard of “Home Sharing”, but there’s nothing new about it. HIP Housing, the San Mateo based non-profit that runs one of the nation’s largest Home Sharing programs, has been around for over 40 years and is now in the City of Fremont as of August 1st, 2015. In Fremont the organization serves those who are seeking housing who live or work in the City of Fremont and persons with a room to rent who live in Fremont, Newark and Union City. In San Mateo County HIP each year provides affordable housing for over 1,400 people.

The Home Sharing program creates affordable housing from the existing housing stock by matching people who have a spare bedroom with those looking for a place to live. It is a mutually beneficial solution- those renting out a room in their home, called Home Providers, can supplement their income, while those who need a place to live, Home Seekers, can find stability and security at an affordable rate.

Nettie Criss has been a Provider since 1998. During the last 15 years, she has had 3 housemates through the program, all of whom she loved having in her home. “I enjoyed them, and they enjoyed me. They were just a joy to communicate with and be with”, she says of her housemates.

Currently, Jim “Reggie” Regino, a tennis instructor, is renting the space in Nettie’s home. Regino was referred to HIP in 2006, and was matched with Nettie soon after his intake interview. He describes their relationship as very caring, saying, “I’ve become very close to her. I call her to check on her and she calls me too.”

Criss has lived in California since 1957, and moved into the home she currently shares with Regino in 1960. Describing herself as “particular”, Nettie is grateful for HIP Housing’s screening and interview processes. Each time she rented out space in her home through the program, she received a number of referrals from HIP, and ultimately rented the space to the individual she felt the most comfortable with. After tragically losing her second housemate to cancer in 2006, she met with a number of home seekers, but decided Regino would be the best fit. “She called me! She said she liked me, and she really wanted me to move in”, he says of hearing from Nettie.

Like most Home Sharing clients, Nettie came to HIP Housing to mitigate some of her housing costs. She explains its impact on not only her finances, but her housemates as well: “It’s helpful to me because I’m on a very fixed income…it helps me as well as them.”

While Jim and Nettie have had an exemplary relationship, sharing a home can come with occasional conflicts. HIP Housing is prepared for that as well. When matches are made, both parties sit down with one of the organization’s experienced counselors to perform a “Living Together Agreement”, wherein they outline the rules, details, musts, and deal-breakers for cohabitating. From there, every participant has long-term counseling available to them for as long as they remain in the program, with the staff serving as an unbiased, professional support system for the clients.

HIP Housing’s solutions are especially useful in the current housing climate, where the average rents continue to rise. New affordable housing units are built, but not fast enough to account for the rapidly growing numbers of people who cannot afford to live here. The organization has seen a sizable increase in calls about Home Sharing from some hoping to boost their income, some trying to recover from homelessness, and everyone in between. And, after 41 years, HIP Housing’s Home Sharing Program has become a strong network of staff, board members, and clients truly invested in this community.

“It’s just a blessing,” says Nettie.

For more information about HIP Housing’s Home sharing program, please call 510-574-2173.