Tag Archives: BoomerRoomers

Roundup: Rosenwaks Instagram Live, Boomer Roomers …

Posted on September 1, 2025 | 1 comment

Our “06880” Instagram Live conversation with the first selectman candidates last week was postponed, due to a technical glitch.

We’ll try again tomorrow (Tuesday, 3 p.m.). Dave Briggs and I will chat with independent David Rosenwaks.

You can find us on Instagram @06880danwoog. We welcome your questions!

The series began with Republican candidate Don O’Day. Still to come: Democrat Kevin Christie.

David Rosenwaks

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BoomerRoomers is an online interactive community for boomers — and others.

It’s a place where baby boomers facing loneliness, and financial and housing insecurity, can find other boomers with houses, apartments, accessory dwelling units — even houseboats and communes — to share.

But it’s not limited to those old enough to remember (or have been at) Woodstock.

Students looking for housing, or a homeshare — and willing (or eager) to move in with a boomer — can do so too.

BoomerRoomers is also a “virtual third space” for boomers to find compatriots and new friends. It’s even a spot for an online daily “wellness check.”

Now, BoomerRoomer is a Substack blog too.

Stories focus on issues like aging in place, housing insecurity among seniors, loneliness and more. “We seek to address ageism where it lives,” says founder Jayne Ehrlich, who operates BoomerRoomers from a Westport office. (Click here for a 2023 “06880” story, on the launch.

She’s looking for guest contributors to the Substack. “You don’t have to be a boomer,” she says. “All writers are welcome.”

If you’re a boomer — or a student, Millennial, Gen Xer, Gen Zer, or even a member of the Greatest Generation that preceded the boomers — and have something boomer-related to say, email info@boomerroomers.com, or call 203-984-0547.

Okay, boomer!

The BoomerRoomers logo.

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If you haven’t heard of dirty sodas, you probably are not on TikTok.

The social media trend of non-alcoholic beverages made by adding flavored syrups, fruit purees, cream or half-and-half and perhaps a fruit garnish to soft drinks arrived at Compo Beach yesterday.

A group of girls — Madeline, Olivia and Zoey — have created a business called (of course) Cherry on Top. They included boba and gummy sharks as options in their dirty sodas.

At Cherry on Top … 

Teens and tweens swarmed the stand, at the well-traveled spot a few feet from the Remarkable Bookcycle.

The girls gave complimentary drinks to the lifeguards, who were very thankful. 

… and the menu. (Photos/Jessica Eno)

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Have a great rest of this gorgeous weekend.

It’s already September, so Thanksgiving is right around the corner. (After, of course, the Jewish High Holy Days, Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day, Halloween and Election Day.)

Time for a turkey vulture, and today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo feature.

(Photo/Dan Woog)

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And finally … speaking of September 1:

(Whatever your generation, if you enjoy being part of this online “06880” community, please click here to support our work. Thank you! Or, as they say today, ty.)

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BoomerRoomers Update: Senior Site Seeks To Expand

Posted on July 26, 2023 | 1 comment

Earlier this year, I posted a story about Jayne Ehrlich’s Westport-based “aging in place” startup.

BoomerRoomers’ goal is to help ease America’s 70 million seniors’ triple whammy: loneliness, housing insecurity and ageism.

It’s planned to be the first of 4 living-alone-together websites. 

Now, Jayne sends along an update. She writes:

We have proof that the home-sharing model is taking root, exponentially. The best way to help it succeed is to match people through housing and lifestyle choices. Our membership questionnaire does exactly that, using insight, humor, and compassion.

We originally planned to launch in New York City before expanding nationwide. But boomers all over the country have expressed enthusiasm. Their excitement convinced us that we need to round out our website and get the word out. It is time to expand more expeditiously.

Jayne Ehrlich

Our immediate goal is to incorporate several unique and compelling features into our website, and with the right marketing, to grow and grow and grow.

One of those features is a living-alone-together document (LATdoc), to enable clear communication between those offering a home share and those needing one.

We are also considering creating a “friendship” algorithm. It’s called “Hangout.” Like BoomerRoomers, users fill out a brief but thoughtful questionnaire. “Friends” are matched according to interests.

The BoomerRoomers logo.

While we are a for-profit business; we aim to add a non-profit arm in about a year. We embrace all socio-economic groups and demographics.

As part of our “Resources” directory, we hope to sign up local, state and national businesspeople, and others — for example, a contractor who could retrofit a home with accommodations for seniors.

We have a lean but comprehensive team ready to go. Two of us have worked together for almost 3 years. Four are local. We have our pitch deck, one-pager and information document. Our business plan is being updated and tweaked.

Another goal is to create a local “Boomer Corps.”

This would consist of retired or semi-retired boomers with a variety of skills and interests, plus available time. These folks have a strong desire to be “useful,” and make a difference in their communities.

Boomer Corps members would help other boomers as they move forward on the aging-in-place continuum.

Along with the warm spirit that comes from doing good deeds, members would make new friends as they joined our community of elders.

We hope to enact this business model in Westport, then more widely in Connecticut. Our model could expand to other areas, with government grants, website sponsorships and private funding, along with profits from our online matching sites.

Housing options, on the BoomerRoomers website.

Since the “06880” story we’ve been interviewed by NRP “Marketplace,” and a Texas blog. Despite only a couple of hours each week devoted to social media, and all team members working full-time jobs, we are encouraged by the enthusiastic feedback we’ve received.

But we need help.

We are seeking start-up savvy advisors, investors and additional team members, especially those with expertise in the start-up world.

If possible, we’d prefer to work with local folks.

To learn more, please email me: jaynecehrlich@boomerroomers.com.

 

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BoomerRoomers: Old Folks’ New Way To Shack Up

Posted on February 21, 2023 | Comments Off on BoomerRoomers: Old Folks’ New Way To Shack Up

It sounds like a sitcom plot: Baby boomers facing loneliness, and financial and housing insecurity, use a website to find other boomers with houses, apartments, accessory dwelling units — even houseboats and communes — to share.

The founder of BoomerRoomers.com does indeed have decades of experience, writing for sitcoms and other shows.

But Jayne Ehrlich is deadly serious about her new venture. It went live on January 1. Now she’s matching boomers with homes, and those who need them.

This is not Ehrlich’s first “match game.” After writing for “Highway to Heaven,” and with 2 shows in development, the Bronx native weathered the 5-month Hollywood writers’ strike in 1988 by opening Malibu Mamas. She drew on her talent for helping people by connecting mothers and nannies.

What she planned as a temporary gig lasted for years.

Jayne Ehrlich

In 1992 Ehrlich moved to Wilton, and opened Hometown Nannies, Screening is thorough. She has placed “thousands of world-class baby nurses, nannies, governesses, housekeepers, couples, cooks, valets, household and estate managers, companions and certified nursing assistants, personal assistants and more.

She meets at least twice with each applicant.

(One early request: an Italian-speaking, baseball-playing manny for the family of a major movie star.)

As rewarding as Hometown Nannies is, Ehrlich kept thinking about housing insecurity. Her interest was piqued decades earlier: As a teenager she worked with a Head Start summer program in Spanish Harlem.

A boomer herself, she knew that her generation would not want to go to “nursing homes,” as their own grandparents had done. But were there alternatives?

The BoomerRoomers logo.

Twelve years ago, she bought the name “BoomerRoomers.” Finally, it’s ready for prime time.

Ehrlich calls BoomerRoomers “a living-alone-together, aging-in-place website.” It matches boomers of all socio-economic groups, by lifestyle and housing preferences.

(Boomers with homes to share have the option of renting to a college or graduate student. But that’s not the main focus of her site.)

Though Ehrlich’s office is in Westport, the January 1 launch focused specifically on New York City. Once she has 5,000 listed home shares, she’ll expand to the tri-state area, and other cities. Her goal is to go national.

The “lifestyle matching” process includes questions like:

  • How much of your home are you willing to share?
  • What about meals? Laundry? Chores?
  • Do you want to share grocery and shopping?

BoomerRoomers is a for-profit venture. However, Ehrlich hopes to spin off into a non-profit. She’s also approaching state and local government agencies, with the goal of helping them create NORCs (naturally occurring retirement communities).

Still ahead: “Living Alone Together with Special Needs.”

Housing options, on the BoomerRoomers website.

Ehrlich’s launch involves a local “boomer corps.” She’s looking for a few retired folks to offer skills with her start-up: PR, networking, social media, writing, fundraising — and venture capitalists.

She also seeks “fashion-inspired boomers,” to be featured on social media.

All jobs are “akin to paid (student) internships.”

For more information, email info@boomerroomers.com. Click here for the website.

Don’t overlook BoomerRoomers’ “Song of the Month.” February’s featured selection: “Gimme Shelter.”

(Whether you’re a boomer — or older — or a teen or tween, “06880” is “Where Westport meets the world.” Please click here to support our work. Thank you!) 

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