National Shared Housing Resource Center

SHARED HOUSING
More than just a place to live...
For a growing number of persons faced with losing their independence and struggling to keep housing costs within their budget, shared housing is an affordable and viable alternative.
A home sharer might be a senior citizen, a person with disabilities, a working professional, someone at-risk of homelessness, a single parent, an AIDS patient, or simply a person wishing to share his or her life and home with others. For these people, shared housing offers companionship, affordable housing, security, mutual support and much more.
Shared living has been known to enhance the health and well-being of all people and allows people to remain independent in their home. Home Sharing also preserves neighborhoods, creates an affordable housing and saves housing and healthcare dollars.
Shared housing programs fall into one of two categories: Match-up programs, which help home providers find a compatible home seeker to pay rent or possibly provide services in exchange for a reduction in rent; and shared living residences, which involve a number of people living cooperatively as an unrelated family in a large dwelling.

MS Information:
Mississippi Department of Human Service - Division of Aging & Adult Services
Type: Information Only - will not do referrals
Address: 750 N. State Street, Jackson MS 39202
Contact: Henry Griffith
Phone: 601-359-4366
Fax: 601-359-4370
Notes: Will also do Mortgage Counseling

LA Information
Office of Elderly Affairs
Type: Information Only
Address: PO Box 80374, Baton Rouge LA 70898-0374
Contact: Ron Blereau
Phone: 225-342-7100

Shared Housing of New Orleans
Type: Match Up Program
Address: 234 Loyola Avenue #804, New Orleans LA 70158-8
Contact: Marion Strauss
Phone: 504-523-1099
Notes: 18+ years. Services operated on volunteer basis through hospital

Resources for Independent Living
Type: Information Only - will not match up
Address: 1555 Poydras Street #1500, New Orleans LA 70112
Phone: 504-522-1955

AL Information

Episcopal Place
Type: Group Residence
Address: 1112 S. 26th Street, Birmingham, AL 3520
Contact: Jill Hoogstra
Phone: 205-939-0085
Notes: Federally subsidized apartments (140 units) for low-income Elderly and physically challenged. Coordinates supportive services to help residents remain self-sufficient as long as health permits. On-site library, beauty parlor, ceramics room, pastoral care and worship opportunities, noon meals and subsidized housekeeping. Adults 62 or older, or 18 and older with physical impairment who meet income criteria.

Council on Aging of Etowah County
Type: Information Only
Address: PO Box 8623 Gadsden, AL 35902
Contact: Judy A. Glavaris
Phone: 256-543-3616

Alabama Commission on Aging
Type: Information Only
Address: PO Box 301851 Montgomery, AL 36130-1851
Contact:Melissa Galvin, Executive Director
Phone: 334-242-5743 or 1-800-AGELINE
Notes: Through the Area Agencies on Aging, seniors 60+ have access to legal, ombudsman, nutrition, in-home and health promotion services.

Regional Information for AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN, TX
Rita Zadoff
MJCC/Home But Not Alone
(770) 395-2546
Email: rita.zadoff@atlantajcc.org