College students in US are choosing to live in retirement communities for affordable housing

In 2022, a Wisconsin retirement community began housing college students, who pay about $500 monthly and volunteer eight hours weekly with older residents.

Shojin Samson, a 23-year-old Indian student, lives in a US retirement community to save on rent and find family connection.

Daija Holliday, a Marquette University student, pays $500 for an apartment at St Camillus Life Plan Community in Milwaukee, about one-third of local market rent.

Holliday volunteers eight hours weekly, leading fitness classes and organizing game nights, and calls the community 'family away from home'.

The arrangement addresses housing affordability and loneliness for both students and older residents, and similar programs are expanding in the US.