Golden Connections is a nonprofit home-sharing organization serving the Monterey Peninsula and surrounding communities. It’s simple but powerful mission is to connect people who have extra room in their homes with people who need safe, affordable housing. Through carefully supported home sharing, Golden Connections helps prevent homelessness, eases financial pressure, reduces isolation, and creates supportive relationships that make daily life better for everyone involved.

At its heart, Golden Connections is about more than housing. It is about companionship, dignity, stewardship, and the belief that a spare bedroom can become a place of welcome, stability, and hope.

Golden Connections serves two groups whose needs often meet beautifully:homeowners or renters with an extra room, and people seeking an affordable place to live. Some homeowners are older adults who want to remain in the homes they love but would welcome companionship, additional income, or help with light household tasks. Some home seekers are workers, students, retirees, or community members who need stable housing in an expensive rental market.

Each match is personal. One homeowner may be looking for conversation over dinner and someone to check in at the end of the day. Another may appreciate help bringing in groceries, caring for a garden, walking a dog, or keeping the house feeling active and safe. A home seeker may be looking not only for an affordable room, but also for belonging, friendship, and the chance to give back.

One Golden Connections provider had lived in her home for many years and says: “Sharing my home has helped me so much and means that I will have an extra income to fix my house, pay health insurance and many other things. Also having someone in the house during the nighttime reassures me that someone will call 911 in case I get sick.”

Home sharing is also good for the environment. When existing bedrooms, in-law units, or accessory spaces are used well, communities can create housing without immediately building new structures. Sharing a home can reduce the need for additional land use, construction materials, energy, and infrastructure. It also makes better use of homes that are already heated, cooled, furnished, and connected to neighborhoods. This practical approach makes wise use of existing homes while caring for neighbors and reducing strain on the environment.

Golden Connections offers its home-sharing services free of charge, including Design A Plan B workshops, application support, background checks, match guidance, and living together agreements that help providers and home seekers begin with clear expectations.

Monthly Design A Plan B workshops are held at Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula on the third Tuesday from 1:00 to 3:00 and at the Carmel Foundation on the second Friday from 10:30 to 11:30.

If you have an extra room, Golden Connections can help you explore whether home sharing is right for you. If you are able to give, a September donation will help keep these free services available to neighbors seeking safety, companionship, and stability. Together, we can turn unused rooms into welcoming homes and help Golden Connections continue building caring, practical solutions for our community.

For more information and to register for our classes call 831-204-8260 or email:

Golden Connections: goldenconnections2025@gmail.com , Mail: 484 Washington St, B419, Monterey, CA. 93940