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HIP Housing presents home-sharing program, distributes 2026 youth art calendar to Portola Valley council
Summary
Laura Sanuki of HIP Housing presented the nonprofit's 2026 children's art calendar and detailed HIP Housing's home-sharing program, which matches mainly older adults with home seekers, conducts background and income checks, and supports month-to-month living agreements that last on average about 5.5 years.
Laura Sanuki, director of programs at HIP Housing, presented the nonprofit's 2026 community calendar and an overview of HIP Housing's long-running home-sharing program to the Portola Valley Town Council during the meeting.
The calendar, Ms. Sanuki said, is part of an outreach effort that features artwork and statements by elementary school students to highlight how housing affects children and families. "My home means more than a roof and walls," she read aloud from an October entry by a fourth grader, and asked the council to keep the program visible in town outreach.
HIP Housing's home-sharing program, launched in 1979, pairs home providers (homeowners or renters with an extra room or ADU) with home seekers such as single people or two-person households. "About 60% of our home providers are older adults," Sanuki said, and HIP Housing screens both providers and seekers with ID and income verification, three character references, and county and national offender-database checks. Staff follow matches with weekly contact, help produce living-together agreements, and provide ongoing support; Sanuki said matches last on average about 5.5 years.
Council members asked whether the program serves families and whether rooms or ADUs could be listed on county portals. Sanuki said the program typically serves one- or two-person households; larger families are routed to HIP Housing's self-sufficiency or property programs and to the organization's waiting list for managed properties. On the question of listing on county platforms, Sanuki said HIP Housing has discussed posting room rentals on the county's Doorway portal but that the portal is "not quite set up" for room rentals yet; HIP Housing remains listed on broader county housing resource pages.
Sanuki noted HIP Housing receives funding from the county's cities, grants and fundraising; the group also provides technical assistance to jurisdictions launching home-sharing programs. She encouraged anyone interested to contact HIP Housing via hiphousing.org or the organization's phone line.
The council thanked HIP Housing for the presentation and for the calendars and did not take action on the program during the meeting.
