RCAP granted $10K to develop housing program where elderly rent to graduate students
Photo | Matt Wright
The Intergenerational HomeShare Program would pair local graduate students with senior homeowners with rooms for rent.
As Central Massachusetts and the commonwealth as a whole continue to contend with the ongoing housing crisis, Worcester nonprofit RCAP Solutions has received a $10,000 grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation to support a pilot program pairing senior homeowners with graduate students in need of housing.
The Intergenerational HomeShare Program aims to motivate homeowners to offer below-market value rent to graduate students, providing them affordable housing while helping seniors remain active in their communities.
The program is a collaborative initiative between RCAP, the Community Connections Coalitions of YOU, Inc., an affiliate of Worcester human services nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation, and additional community partners, according to a Monday press release from RCAP.
“Affordable housing is a critical challenge across Worcester County,” said Pete Dunn, president and CEO of GWCF, said in the release. “The Intergenerational HomeShare Program offers an innovative approach to addressing the housing crisis while fostering connections between generations and strengthening the community.”
RCAP is building its program framework off of an international homeshare program in Boston created in partnership between the City’s Age Strong Commission, Housing Innovation Lab, and Brooklyn-based social enterprise firm Nesterly.
RCAP will use the GWCF-provided grant to facilitate outreach to local seniors with rooms for rent to assess their interest in the pilot program. The nonprofit hopes to collect interest in order to solicit more funding in the future.
“Bringing this model to Worcester is a doable, winnable effort that can help address the current housing crisis, even if in one small way. Many efforts like this are desperately needed at this time. The program’s intergenerational piece also provides wonderful, needed support to our seniors to help keep them in their homes,” Anne Bureau, program director for the Worcester Community Connections Coalition of YOU, Inc., said in the release.
Having generated $62.47 million in revenue, RCAP Solutions is the eighth largest human services nonprofit in Central Massachusetts when ranked by total revenue for the most recent fiscal year, according to data collected by WBJ’s Research Department.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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