On average Home Seekers complete 5 hours/week for our Home Providers. Some Home Seekers do closer to 20 hours/week and other Home Seekers do 0 hours/week. Typically, the more service exchange a Home Seeker is willing to do the cheaper the rent will be.

In home sharing, service exchange includes things like driving, yardwork/gardening, occasional meal preparation, pet care, minimal home maintenance (changing light bulbs), snow shoveling, take out the trash, and house keeping. Home Seekers do not complete any personal care including showering, toileting, and assistance transferring.

For the last 2 years, the program's average rent has been $650-700/month, with a maximum of $1000. Home Providers set the rent and Sunshine staff members support them in having conversations about rent reduction due to service exchange. Home Seekers must have an income level sufficient to pay the Home Provider’s rent and living expenses.

Our home providers are located in the Metro Denver area. Home providers must use their home as their primary residence.
We consider the Metro Denver to be the cities of Arvada, Aurora, Broomfield, Centennial, Commerce City, Denver, Edgewater, Englewood, Golden, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Littleton, Northglenn, Thornton, Westminster, & Wheat Ridge.

If you are looking for a home share program outside of Colorado, we recommend doing a web search with the name of your location and home sharing.
We also recommend looking at the directory of the National Shared Housing Resource Center at nationalsharedhousing.org.

Due to Sunshine’s extensive process to make sure the match is a good fit, the quickest someone can be matched is in at least 8 weeks (this includes the 2 week Trial Match). Many of our Home Providers and Home Seekers take much longer to get matched due to their personal preferences and the amount of time it takes to find a good fit. Sunshine does not provide emergency housing. Housing is never a guarantee and it is never guaranteed that an applicant will be matched.

On average, our home shares last about a year. Some have lasted for 5 years and some are less than a year. Our home share agreements are always month-to-month.

Sunshine completes background and credit checks on all participants in the program. All applicants must have three verifiable references. Home Seekers must provide proof of income. Sunshine also completes a 1-2 hour Social Work Intake with each program participant, assessing for mental health, emotional health, physical health, and substance abuse.

For our Home Provider Program, you must be 55 years and older.
For our Home Seeker Program, you must be 18 years and older.
For our Financial Wellness & Empowerment Program, you must be 55 years and older.

Couples may apply to the program, though are harder to find matches for. Typically our Home Providers only offer 1 bedroom and it is to the Home Provider's discretion if they allow a couple. Please reference Joyce, Jordan and Haley’s story in the “Our Stories” tab for an example of one of our couples that has been matched.

While families with children may apply, they are very challenging to find a match. It is up to the home provider if they are open to having a child in the home. Please be advised that we have never yet managed to match someone successfully with a child or children.

No, our home seekers do not provide home health care and will not assist with bathing, dressing, or feeding. If a Home Provider needs substantial personal care assistance, skilled care assistance, or cannot be left unattended, this program is not appropriate. Home Seekers can provide companionship and household help, but the Home Provider should expect the Home Seeker will have activities of their own, independent of the Home Share, and coordination of multiple services for the Home Provider may be needed.