Success Stories

Shawn and Darcie in Washington DC

"Because our sons are both only children, its been good for them to have brotherly attention and learn that they are not the center of the universe," adds Goldstein. "And were here to support one another as much as we can." For example, recently when Allen had a late class, Goldstein picked up my son from school, fed and bathed him and put him to bed. And we trade off like that constantly, which makes life less stressful for both of us".

Heather in Florida

I first heard about CoAbode in a Florida parenting magazine. There were only seven members in the area that I lived in, and sure enough, there was a perfect match for me. I emailed Carrie and we met and got to know each other. Its a match made in heaven for us. Our kids get along great. Emotionally its been great to have someone thats going through the same experience that you are. CoAbode has definitely changed my life for the better. My new roommate and I sit up at night after the kids fall asleep and laugh and joke about some of the trials and tribulations we go through, and dont feel so alone.

Barbara in San Diego

It's vital to know the personality and compatibility of the mom your going to share with. When you get that right its sheer heaven. Two mothers seem to be more objective and we have this mutual respect and admiration for each other. I see my kids have more respect for me for making the effort to do this. They have a playmate and they see I have more money to spend on them. My kids saw an immediate positive result of doing this. They get better shoes, better food. There has been an automatic unspoken comradery. We come home at the end of the day and together we get in there and tackle what has to be done; you do the dinner Ill help the kids get their homework done. We learn to help each other in so many ways. We cover each other financially; for the most part it flows naturally. For me there has been a tremendous sense of relief in house sharing.

Missy

Living together for: 12 months. It has been great!!

Companionship for me and my son, shared cost of the rent.

New Housemate completely redesigned the garden as she is an advocate of fresh food.

I would likely not have used another means of finding a housemate because I am still a bit emotionally shaken due to my divorce. I have been calmer so my son is happier.

Stacy

Had it not been for CoAbode I never would have pursued a home share situation.  It was because of the CoAbode website that I was able to see for myself that there were indeed other parents out there just like me, with the same needs, and in similar situations, and in different states. This motivated me and gave me the incentive to investigate and explore home share opportunities.

Carol in Minnesota

I would definitely recommend the service to anyone (and have) I think CoAbode is great it gave me the support I needed to seek what I believe is the best possible living arrangement for my son being a single mom and not having the support of the other parent.  My son now has his own room in a beautiful home, in a gorgeous neighborhood with one of the best school systems in the state for far less than what it would cost for me to live anywhere else, city or suburbs alone.  So, yes I thank you for creating this service that helped me find this great opportunity that we both have now.

Sammy in Atlanta, GA

I haven't had any luck with house sharing yet, but the "Friends Circle" is working great.  I have had 8 responses since I volunteered to be a facilitator and we have started organizing ourselves and had our first get together on Mother's Day and we have next weekend planned already.  CoAbode is more than just house sharing so if they are interested in any other aspects of it, I’d volunteer to be a resource. 

Danielle in Washington

I was stressed.  I was moving to a new town that I was ecstatic over, but everyone kept asking if I knew how expensive it was to live near Washington, DC.  I really didn't.  And then I read about CoAbode in USA Today. I stayed up half the night during my first web visit - reading people's profiles and imagining the possibilities.  But even in all my hoping and dreaming, I never thought things would be THIS good.

I met my roommate at a CoAbode support group planned for people in our area.  We all became friends first (we both have 5 year old boys), which helped, and after a while began discussing what sharing a house would be like.  We took the time to iron out a lot of details before we agreed to do it; how we'd handle different situations, what was important to us, what we valued, and what we hoped to get out of the experience. After we felt sure that we could mesh our lives under one roof, I was pretty certain that at the very least, this was going to be a "good arrangement."  But I never dreamed it would be this amazing.  Simpler.  Better.  Happier.  Easier.  Cheaper.

Most importantly, our boys are having the time of their lives.  No more boring weekends watching mom clean the house.  No more watching lots of videos or entertaining themselves while she does laundry, pays bills, cooks, etc.  Now, when we clean the house, there are two of us sharing the load -taking half the time and getting more done –

and meanwhile the boys are peeing their pants laughing together!  It's not been without its transitions, but it's gone amazingly well.

And for me, having someone else to talk to, bounce ideas off of, learn from and share with is incredible. Not to mention that I now can have a bit of a social life, go see a movie, shop at night, go get a coffee...things I didn't do while living alone. And having a built-in baby-sitter that I care about and trust, and whom my son loves, is priceless.  My roommate has even started to take classes at night, too, something she wasn't able to do while living alone!

Michelle in Brooklyn

I mean she was a godsend, I just couldn't figure out how I was going to do it alone. Now we are looking for a third housemate.

Anonymous

I would still be living with an abusive husband if I did not find another single mom to share a house with.  My income is not enough to even rent an apartment so this was my only option Unfortunately; I have reduced them and myself to almost poverty status to do so.  But safety and sanity is worth more than money.  I know there are a lot of other moms who feel trapped in bad situations who would move in a heartbeat if they knew that they did have options.  My ex tried to convince me that there was no way I could

make it on my own. I almost believed him.  But I am able to with the help of another single mom.  I am also finding support and companionship through the mom I live wiht. This is a valuable service that I believe can save moms and children from abusive situations. I checked into apartments, which I couldn't afford.  With coming up with first,

last months rent, security and cleaning deposits, I gave up on that idea.  I stayed in a bad situation, had the police to my home twice after my husband became abusive.  I checked into domestic violence shelters and found there were none in my area that could get me in without an undetermined wait.  When I did find another single mom who was already renting a home, it turned out to be the perfect solution.  She had already dealt with all the deposits and start up costs while renting with her ex-husband.  He moved out and a couple months later, I moved in.  My roomie was also having a very tough time dealing with expenses and was weeks away from moving into an apartment (which she didn't want to do) when we found each other. Thank you.

Aubrey, CA

I joined CoAbode with very low expectations.  I really didn’t believe that I would make a connection there that would result in sharing a house but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot.  I thought I’d meet another single mother through friends, or through my kid’s

school.  It seemed that working through personal connections was a better place to start.  I was totally wrong. 

CoAbode is great because it’s a central point for single mums who are looking to accomplish the exact same thing… a better living situation for themselves and their kids.  Yes, it may require us to start cold with absolute strangers, but the site provides tools that help us really get to know the person we’re talking to before we make any major decisions.  My roommate and I met on CoAbode.  We’ve been living together with our combined three children, and it is really fantastic.  Because we’re pooling finances we’ve got a much better house than either of us could have afforded alone. We share chores like cooking and shopping so our stress factors have gone down, and we give each other time off for exercising or movie going or whatever.

It really has improved my life immensely. We started talking to one another on CoAbode because, on paper at least, it seemed that we had a lot in common.  Both of us needed to live in the same area, we are both in the same profession; close in age and share similar parenting and life philosophies. And by using the questionnaires provided by the site, (which are incredibly thorough) we made sure that no one was in for any surprises.  I feel extremely grateful to CoAbode for making something very difficult so much easier, and I recommend this kind of choice to any single mum who finds it tough going alone. 

Jennifer

I am choosing to leave my verbally abusive husband after 11 years. I want to focus on my kids, health and job.