Kelowna initiative pairs seniors seeking company with students seeking housing

A senior and a university student aren't typical roommates but JudyAskeland and JohannahWirzba say their unusual housing arrangement in Kelowna, B.C., makes lifeeasier for both of them.

The pair found each other through a Kelowna-based initiative called iGen, which pairs students looking for cheaper rent with seniors seeking companionship through an app called Happipad.

"I'm an elderly lady, I lived alone and I have a mortgage," said Askeland, 70.

"A couple things had come along where it would be nice to just have the company of another body in your house and also to just help with some of the daily tasks."

So she started looking for a roommate.

"I was a little bit reticent to really jump inwith both feet right from the very beginning," Askeland toldChris Walker, host of CBC'sDaybreak South.

"I haven't shared my space for a long, long time and I didn't know how I was going to respond to that."

'Built-in community'

Wirzba, a masters student at UBC Okanagan, was looking for a place to live in Kelowna after moving for school.

"I was moving from out of province and the rent prices scared me a little bit," she said.

"I didn't know anyone in Kelowna, I was moving here all by myself.So, I thought, wouldn't it be cool if there was a built-in community in where you live?"

Finding the option to pair up with a senior like Askeland "worked out quite perfectly," Wirzba said.

Wirzba and Askeland have been roommates for a couple weeks.

Honeymoon phase

Living together with people generations apart can present challenges, Wirzba said, but the program they used tries to mitigate that as much as possible.

There are resources to help build a roommate agreement, if needed, and mediators available in case something goes wrong.

"In our case, we haven't needed much of either," Wirzba said.

"We've settled in quite quickly we have our own space and we do what we can to make it comfortable for ourselves and for each other."

Askeland said she's hopeful the arrangement will continue to go well.

"We're still honeymooning right now because Johannah has only been here a couple of weeks. But as the time goes on, as we get to know each other even more I feel that the relationship is really growing and becoming stronger," she said.

With files from Daybreak South.

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