Over the last 100 years or so, the American economy—and, in many ways, our culture—has been hyper-focused on efficiency and specialization. Interestingly, this focus has changed our lives and relationships too. In a speech given at the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival, author and CEO Marc Freedman shared how post-industrialized America began to “specialize” experiences by age in a way that previous societies had not, and the trend has only accelerated over the years. This kind of segmentation is efficient for marketers, education, military service and medicine… but we’ve lost something along the way.

Many Americans face loneliness and isolation every day. Adult children may live across the country. Friends and neighbors have moved or passed on. It’s hard for fiercely independent people to reach out for support and senior services—especially if they don’t even know those support networks and services exist. 

Maybe you identify as a Baby Boomer. You might have kids in Gen X. That young person at the coffee shop is Gen Y. Don’t you sometimes think all of these generational labels just serve to keep people apart? 

Silvernest, Encore and Service Year Alliance are partnering to bring affordable housing to young people committed to a service year in San Jose, California!

Oil and water. Fire and ice. Teacher salaries and Bay Area housing costs. These are all examples of things that simply don’t mix.

At least for the last one, however, there is a creative solution available. Based on the success of our educator homesharing initiatives in Denver and Miami, Silvernest worked with Teach For America and Encore.org to help young teachers find affordable housing in an expensive city. This time we helped Teach For America educators in the notoriously expensive San Francisco Bay Area!

Silvernest and Teach For America partnered to bring affordable housing to educators in Colorado!

The term “roommate” has a significantly different meaning in your 50s than it did in your 20s. But no matter how your tastes or needs may change, sharing your space with someone may still bring a lot of benefits to your life. From helping with a mortgage or supplementary income, to providing companionship during changing times, having a roommate past 50 is becoming a growing trend, and for good reason.

There’s plenty that needs fixing about aging in America. So why is giving every older adult the opportunity to mentor an at-risk young person the one thing I’d choose to change?

Here at Silvernest, we are seeing more and more successful pairings spanning the generations. Initially many of our homeowners gravitate to someone of similar same age, gender and personality. But they are pleasantly surprised when they expand their options to different generations, either younger or older.

In the last thirty years, we have extended our lifespans, improved our overall health and opened up a new phase of life after age 50 that is often filled with vibrancy, possibility and health...yet our society continues to perpetuate the notion that we peak in our late 20s and it's downhill from there. 

This is ageism—the last remaining socially-sanctioned prejudice, according to Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks, a Manifesto Against Ageism. It's a cultural narrative that impacts almost every aspect of life after 50. If you have ever felt compelled to lie about your age or received a backhanded compliment like, “You look great for your age,” you have experienced it.