A project that was introduced back in January 2024 has seen significant growth in the past 10 months.
On January 15, the Home Share Drumheller project officially launched in the Drumheller region (including Starland County). The project is led by Community Futures Big Country, in partnership with Town of Drumheller, Travel Drumheller, and Drumheller & District Chamber of Commerce. Home Share Drumheller empowers residents to become part of a community-based solution to the local housing shortage.
Community Futures Big Country secured grant funding from the Prairies Rural Opportunities Fund (ROF 2.0) to introduce Home Share Drumheller to the region. Working in partnership with Happipad and Canada HomeShare, an online platform was launched to facilitate the home sharing process. The platform vets both renters and hosts, provides background checks, prepares appropriate legal contracts, and works to ensure compatibility matching.
Alison Roppel, Project Coordinator with Home Share Drumheller is encouraged by what she is seeing, “We now have 33 hosts registered, along with 47 renters, and 12 completed rental contracts –– the response from the community has been really positive and we’re ahead of our expectations.” Alison hopes that homeowners and their tenants will share their positive experiences and that awareness about the program will continue to grow. She adds, “I’m really impressed, homeowners are opening their doors and getting involved, it really speaks to the warmth and willingness of this community.”
Home Share Drumheller offers a solution to homeowners with an extra room to rent, employers looking for staff accommodations, renters looking for a room, or seniors who would benefit from a helpful tenant. Funding is available to the first 50 homeowners who sign onto the home share platform and are matched with renters. Grant funding will continue to cover program fees through to March 31, 2026.
Virginia, who has welcomed tenants into her home for decades is appreciative of the platform. “It makes the screening and contracts easy and removes the burden of the money talk and collection. It makes the process easy to navigate and makes home sharing successful.”
For more information, or to register as a host or tenant visit their website.
-Submitted by Community Futures Big Country-
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