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Home Sharing Program Aims To Help Wildfire Evacuees

Andy Nelson/Register-Guard/Pool

The Portland-based Home Share Oregon, a non-profit, is working on rehousing wildfire evacuees in Lane County. The program matches homeowners with spare rooms with renters. 

 

Listing, pairing, and helping draft rental agreements, are some of the services the nonprofit offers free of charge. They also offer COVID-19 tips and suggestions for those concerned about spreading the disease.

Oregon Home Share program manager Marissa Cade said although they can’t dig into specific user information, they’ve seen a growth in participation during recent wildfires. But, they still need more rooms.

 

“We know that many of our neighbors have lost everything and we’re just asking that home-owners consider, even if they don’t think their space is perfect, if they have spare space, if they’d be willing to share their space right now, it would make a huge difference,” Cade said.

 

Rental rates vary, Cade said, as some people offer space for free, but she adds it’s still cheaper than opting for an apartment. She’s hopeful innovative solutions can help ease the potential for wildfires to add to the county’s already strained housing supply.

 

"I'm hopeful that the sort of spike in need does something to drive people's urgancy, and by people I mean leaders in the community, both elected and nonprofit leaders as well as nonprofit leaders, as well as industry leader to embrace as many forms of safe housing as we can in order to move off of the streets and out of less safe environments," Cade said.

 

Copyright 2020, KLCC

 

Melorie Begay is a multimedia journalist for KLCC News. She was the Inaugural KLCC Public Radio Foundation Journalism Fellow. She has a bachelors in Multimedia Journalism from the University of New Mexico. She previously interned at KUNM public radio in Albuquerque, NM and served as a fellow for the online news publication New Mexico In Depth.