BROWNSVILLE — Jan Lillien and Jack Jackobvitz met online in the early 2000s.
Lillien, now 92, had a long career in real estate in South Woodstock, while Jackobvitz, 94, ran a string of dry cleaning plants with his brother and an interior decorating business with his late wife in Massachusetts.
For more than 20 years, they have aged in place in their Brownsville home, largely able to support each other.
That started to change as the couple noticed that tasks that once came easily to them became more challenging, including moving their trash and recycling bins from their garage to the curb, and carrying groceries up the stairs in their split-level home.
JENNIFER HAUCK Valley News
“There’s a lot of stuff, routine stuff in the household that we can no longer do,” Lillien said in an interview from their home. “We hadn’t really made many plans for (aging in place). I don’t think we planned, ever planned on being in our 90s.”
Then, they attended a presentation at the Thompson Senior Center in Woodstock about HomeShare, which matches people with extra rooms in their homes with those who are looking for places to live.
It seemed like a good fit and in summer 2024, they started the application process.
“We knew we needed help,” Lillien said, adding that their children and grandchildren live out of state. “We wanted to stay at home.”
They considered assisted living facilities, but disliked the size of the living space, and worried about the cost and being unable to keep animals.
“I couldn’t live without a pet,” Lillien said.
Around the same time, Kai Brown was seeking “something new, but familiar” through a move from the Finger Lakes region of New York to the Green Mountain State.
“I was trying to get out here on my own beforehand and it was falling short,” Brown, 26, said. “I could not make the pieces fit together.”
Brown connected with the Green Mountain Development Corp., a White River Junction-based nonprofit organization that supports economic development in Vermont. From them, he learned about HomeShare and decided to apply.
Last October, the trio met for the first time.
“As soon as I met Kai, I knew that was it,” Lillien said during an interview with Jackobvitz and Brown. Nearby in the living room, Brown’s dog, Bella, and the couple’s dog, Rocky, curled up together, having made a match of their own.
“I’ve always had multiple dogs, and I was down to one, so they came as a package — as a wanted package,” Lillien said.
There was a moment toward the end of their initial meeting where Brown had a moment of worry: Lillien asked if he was religious.
“And I said, ‘Oh no, here’s where I blew it’ in my mind,” Brown said. “And I said, ‘No, I’m not really of faith. And Jan said, ‘Oh good.’ And I said, ‘OK, I’m in the right place.'”
As Lillien puts it: “I didn’t want anyone around that was trying to save my soul all the time.”
Brown moved in for a two-week trial period shortly after and when that went well, officially moved in Nov. 5.
Brown pays $350 in rent per month and assists the couple with chores such as carrying groceries and taking Jackobvitz to appointments. His bedroom and accompanying bathroom are on the ground floor while the couple lives on the floor above. Bella has access to a doggy door and fenced-in backyard, where she delights in running around with Rocky.
“I feel private and comfortable and like I have my own space down there, but it’s nice to know that I can come upstairs and see Jan and Jack,” Brown said.
Matchmaking
The trio joined a small — but slowly growing number of people — who are sharing homes in Northern Windsor County through HomeShare Vermont, a statewide nonprofit organization that matches homeowners with room to spare with those who are seeking housing.
“We’re not just finding the room to rent, we’re helping people find suitable housemates,” Shari Borzekowski, who works as the Aging at Home resource manager at the Thompson Center and a case manager for HomeShare Vermont, said in a phone interview.
Borzekowksi focuses on facilitating matches for people in Central Vermont, primarily in Windsor County. “It has to be somebody they get along with; they click with; they like each other; they want to spend time together; they can see themselves sharing a home. All those things have to align.”
The Thompson Senior Center, which serves older adults in the Woodstock area, started its own home share program in 2020. It grew out of its goal to help people age in place, which includes providing transportation services and other programs like home-delivered meals.
“They want to stay in their homes as long as they possibly can,” Borzekowski said. “Homeshare was just a logical way to go.”
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the program’s growth, but in 2022 the Thompson made its first match. Since then, Borzekowski has facilitated 16 matches: three ended as planned due to a set timeframe (such as a guest needing a place to stay during an internship); five ended due to matches’ ultimately being incompatible, while eight are still active.
The longest running match has been since July 2023, which Borzekowski said has been successful because the guest and host enjoy each other’s company and have complimentary schedules.
In October 2023, the Thompson’s program became a satellite of HomeShare Vermont, which gave it access to expanded resources, including increased outreach efforts and case management support.
As of mid-April, Borzekowski had 11 hosts, as homeowners are known, and nine guests, as renters are known, seeking placement.
All hosts and guests have undergone six background checks, answered dozens of questions about their life story, living preferences and personalities, and provided a list of three or four references that Borzekowski carefully checks.
“I’m not going to take somebody this week and put them in somebody’s house next week,” Borzekowski said.
Lillien and Jackobvitz would not have welcomed someone else into their home without the HomeShare structure.
“Friends were very concerned, some of them, that we were taking in a stranger, even though I tried to explain to them that people were vetted out,” she said. “And I felt OK with that.”
Hosts make clear what type of assistance they need and guests make clear if they have time to do those tasks.
“It is a combination of geography, the house, rent required, services requested,” Borzekowski said, adding that a guest who does not drive would not be a good fit for someone who lives in a place where there is limited access to public transportation.
Guests do not provide medical or personal care, including anything required for daily living such as bathing, dressing or dispensing medications, Borzekowski emphasized.
She pitches home share to potential hosts as “a just-in-case presence” — someone who can call 911 if something happens.
“A lot of people who live alone literally will say, ‘I’m afraid something will happen to me and I’ll be on the floor for three days before someone notices I’m not where I’m supposed to be’,” Borzekowski added.
Guests can also do tasks such as yardwork or running errands — depending on what the hosts need and what the guests can provide.
“On top of all that is personality,” Borzekowski said. “You can have all the right qualifications on paper and if you don’t hit it off, there’s no match to be made.”
After the background checks, interviews and reference checks, Borzekowski starts to look at guests and hosts to see who would be a good fit. If she finds a pair that she thinks could work, she asks them if they want to be introduced. If they agree, she arranges an in-person meeting, which she attends.
If the guest and host decide to go forward, Borzekowski works with them to craft a contract and then they start a two-week trial period of living together. If that works out, the guest moves into the host’s home.
Using existing space
HomeShare Vermont also contributes to the region’s housing stock, said Ellen Hender, interim executive director at Vital Communities, a White River Junction-based nonprofit organization that focuses on farming, economic development, housing and transportation, among other needs in the Upper Valley.
“We have a lot of bedrooms that are unused so HomeShare is such a cool piece of puzzle because we’re utilizing existing space,” Hender said in a phone interview earlier this month.
In 2022, 68% of Vermont households owned by homeowners had one to two members and 74% of homes had three or more bedrooms, according to the Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s Vermont Housing Needs Assessment 2025-2029.
“I think so many of us when we’re young share housing in some way,” Hender said, adding that many people share dorm rooms in college or move in with roommates when they’re young adults. “It can be hard to realize that it’s something that can work really well in our later years.”
Dave Cook, who has been hosting Paul Branch in his Woodstock home since late last November, was motivated to open up his home to help with the housing crisis.
“I had an extra bedroom and I walk around town and I grouse about the housing situation and the fact that there are so many empty houses — well, houses that aren’t fully occupied, let me put it that way,” Cook, 84, said on a night this month as he and Branch, 27, prepared a pasta and broccoli dinner. “So I thought I’d put my bedroom where my mouth is.”
Cook moved to Woodstock five years ago with his late wife to be closer to family in Cavendish, Vt.
“I would have hesitations if I wanted to do it on my own — I mean, you know, who is this person? — but HomeShare figures that out for me,” Cook said.
Branch found out about HomeShare last spring and filled out an application. He’d recently been accepted into Franklin Pierce University’s Physician Assistant Program, located in Lebanon, and was considering his housing options. He and his fiancée share an apartment in Burlington, and Branch needed a place to stay during the week.
“I couldn’t afford to pay for two places,” Branch said. “Now I can afford the rent in Burlington and here, and Dave and I get along great, so it’s a good setup.”
Cook doesn’t need much help around the house and Branch has a pretty busy schedule. Branch met with a couple other potential matches, but they weren’t a good fit because they needed more help than he could provide.
He pays $400 a month in rent and helps out with some household tasks here and there. This winter, he expected to do more shoveling, but it’s a task Cook still enjoys.
Cook, who found out about HomeShare through the Thompson Senior Center, has tried to talk up HomeShare to other people with empty rooms, but hasn’t had much luck convincing them — yet.
“People don’t want people coming in and going upstairs to their room necessarily, you know,” Cook said. “But Paul’s perfect. He doesn’t basically live here much. He stays here at night.”
The pair occasionally have dinner together. During the mornings and evenings when they see each other, they exchange film and book recommendations. After learning they have similar tastes, Branch recommended Cook watch “One Battle After Another,” an Oscar-winning thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and read “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir, which has recently been made into a movie.
“I loved it, actually,” Cook said about the science fiction novel. “I recommended it to a friend today.”
Seamless transition
Lillien and Jackobvitz had not lived with a non-family member before and have found the transition easy — and welcome having someone else in their home. Jackobvitz, who no longer drives, has limited mobility and can no longer accompany Lillien on some of the longer walks she likes to take. That’s where Brown, who works as a construction manager for Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity, comes in.
“He keeps me safe when I walk,” Lillien said. Recently, at her request, Brown has been teaching Lillien how to shoot her pistol.
Earlier this spring, Brown’s parents came up to visit and stayed overnight.
“They were thrilled beforehand, and then when they came up and saw it, they were in disbelief,” Brown said. Everyone in his life was supportive of HomeShare, but they were shocked how seamlessly they fit together.
“Sometimes I introduce him as a grandson rather than go through the whole, you know, story of how we got together,” Lillien said. “Nobody ever questions (it).”
Brown agreed: “I’d say we can pass pretty easily.”
The trio regularly eats dinner together, part of their agreement that has evolved. Lillien makes dinner most nights —her fried chicken is one of Brown’s favorites — and if he’s out late, she leaves a plate in the microwave for him when he comes home. When Brown’s girlfriend visits from Massachusetts, Lillien cooks for her too.
Brown has a flexible work schedule and can make time to take Jackobvitz to doctor’s appointments when Lillien is unable to do so.
“90% of what he does is schlepp things from one place to another,” Lillien said. The contract the trio agreed to states that one of Brown’s tasks is “schlepping” groceries.
Brown also grabs items off higher shelves and recently changed the tires on the couple’s car.
“Money is not the important factor for us,” Jackobvitz said. “More important is the helping hand.”
People can learn more about the program and sign up at thompsonseniorcenter.org/homeshare.
