Have you found a unique solution to navigating Maine’s housing crisis? We want to hear your story. Email the BDN’s housing reporter Kathleen O’Brien at [email protected]
One Portland man developed a creative solution that allows him to age in place and provide affordable housing in one of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods.
Jacob Watson, 84, has lived in his 1910 home in Portland’s Deering Highlands neighborhood for 37 years. An ordained interfaith minister, Watson specialized in grief counseling and hospice care and helped launch the Center for Grieving Children and The Chaplaincy Institute of Maine.
He also has macular degeneration, an incurable disease that makes his vision progressively more blurry over time. This makes everyday tasks like driving, cooking and using the computer difficult, if not impossible.
However, Watson is otherwise healthy, active and not ready to move to an assisted living facility or other senior housing. He simply needs help with a few daily tasks.
“I can’t do things that I used to and I need to ask for help more, but I’m not good at that,” Watson said. “Up until this year I would snowblow, but I hired someone to do it this year, and that was a big step for me.”
To stay in his home where he’s comfortable and have someone nearby for the moments he needs help, Watson decided to rent out the second floor of his home to one or two “housemates.” The agreement comes with the condition that they help him with occasional things, like navigating the computer or driving him to medical appointments, in return for a cheaper rent.
The arrangement presents a unique solution to two worsening problems fueling Maine’s housing crisis: the rising cost of rentals and the dwindling number of assisted living facilities and nursing homes in Maine. These issues have made it progressively more difficult to find rental housing in Portland that lower- and middle-income earners can afford, especially in desirable neighborhoods like Watson’s.
Additionally, the closure of dozens of nursing and assisted living facilities throughout Maine in recent decades have led to fewer options and longer waitlists for aging Mainers in need of care. This problem is expected to worsen as Baby Boomers, who make up the largest chunk of the state’s population, age.
“Moving to a place in the Portland area, there’s at least a two or three-year waiting list,” Watson said. “Even if I were going to move, I’d have to wait, and what might happen in those two or three years?”
Watson has two bedrooms available for housemates, as well as a private living room and a full bathroom on the second floor. Their monthly rent includes all utilities and housemates have access to Watson’s two-car garage, as he no longer drives. The kitchen, dining area and laundry on the first floor are shared.
Shortly before the holidays, Watson transitioned to living on the first floor of his home to reduce how often he needs to use stairs, as his waning vision throws off his balance, he said.
Watson’s wife, who died suddenly of a heart attack five years ago, was also a grief counselor. This led the family to speak frequently about “our end of life and staying here.” The couple modified the first-floor bathroom to be a full, accessible bathroom as they planned to stay in their home for as long as possible.
Watson usually finds housemates through his network of friends and word-of-mouth, but interviews each candidate to see if they’ll make a good fit. His current housemate moved in on Jan. 1 and he’d like to find another housemate or two before they leave on May 1.
The tasks he needs help with due to his worsening vision include using his phone, computer and appliances in his kitchen. He also stopped driving about a year and a half ago, so he needs occasional rides to appointments, or help scheduling an Uber on his phone.
Buying groceries has also become nearly impossible, as his vision prevents him from seeing the items on the shelves, he said. Because of this, Watson asks his housemates to go grocery shopping for the home, or help him order groceries to be delivered to the house.
Watson is able to make breakfast and lunch for himself and still likes to cook a few times each week, but isn’t able to read new recipes. Because of this, he’s discovered asking housemates to help cook dinner is helpful.
“The whiteboard on the fridge is an important ingredient in the house,” Watson said. “I like to know what’s for supper and it’s nice to know who’s cooking.”
Watson doesn’t want or need housemates to help him every minute of the day. In fact, he prefers if they have a part- or full-time job and spend time out of the house, he said.
“I’ve discovered that I really like having the house to myself,” Watson said.
While Watson knows he may need to hire full-time care in the coming years, this arrangement has worked well so far, and prevents his four children, all of whom live in New England, from worrying about him.
“I don’t want to be a burden to my kids,” Watson said.
Watson has spent time in a variety of senior living facilities throughout southern Maine and isn’t yet interested in “living with other people who I may not have a lot in common with.”
“It’s better for me to navigate living by myself,” Watson said. “And that’s alright with me.”
