Amparo Azcutia: Shared Homes against unwanted loneliness
Amparo Azcutia and José Prieto talk to us about Hogares Compartidos, the shared housing project for people over 60 that combats unwanted loneliness in Valencia
We are recording chapter 6 of Gente Real live in Valencia, and we open «La Portería» to two voices who speak to us about what a home truly means when it is shared.
After so much talking about future, data and algorithms, in this special chapter recorded live in Valencia we wanted to open the door to our most human section in a different way. In «La Portería» we usually ask a well-known face what the word home means to them. Today, however, the porter's lodge is opened by two people who know that meaning from a much deeper place: the transcendence of building a home when there is no one left to share it with.
Christmas was approaching when we recorded this episode, one of those times of year when the home becomes a family meeting point. But it is not always like that for everyone. Unwanted loneliness is, as was said live on stage, the silent pandemic of our century. That is why we invited Amparo Azcutia, co-founder of Hogares Compartidos, a Valencian organisation that has spent twelve years turning houses into families, and José Prieto, one of its residents, who knows very well what it is like to transform a stranger into a lifelong companion.
What is a shared home?
Amparo explains it bluntly: they are people over 60 who, without a home of their own or savings, are forced to share a roof. Many arrive after a comfortable life cut short by a separation or a bad business deal; others have dragged themselves through a situation of social exclusion since childhood. Nobody arrives looking for others, but they all end up satisfied.
«What is beautiful is that among them they establish groups of healthy, affective and collaborative coexistence.
And there is something almost miraculous about the model: they keep finding owners willing to hand over their homes in exchange for a lower financial return, but with the certainty of contributing to the common good. Today they manage 16 homes and provide a roof for 60 people in Valencia, although the demand is enormous: an average of 560 people over 60 ask them for decent accommodation every year.
How do such different people fit under one roof?
The process, Amparo says, is «something as subtle as a feeling». When a room becomes available in one of the flats — there are two-, three-, four- and even five-person ones — the seniors themselves choose, among the candidates, who they want to live with.
It makes sense: they are the ones who are going to share every hour of the day, 365 days a year. Beyond a roof over their heads, the organisation offers a sense of belonging, an active life and companionship volunteering. As Amparo summarises, «when we talk about housing we always focus on square metres and transactions, but in the end we are talking about family and human warmth.
How can estate agents collaborate?
Amparo makes a clear appeal to the sector: to collaborate, to contribute the small contribution that some colleagues are already making, either individually or as an agency. But there is also a more subtle role that only real estate professionals can play: to accompany those people who inherit the home from deceased parents and feel afraid to rent or regret selling it. Offering them the possibility that that home can continue to be a legacy, or be used for a noble project, can be the perfect gateway to Shared Homes.
