Since 2014, A Touch of Love Works (ATOLW) has served on the frontlines across Orange County, providing essential food, hygiene supplies, and, most importantly, compassionate connection to our unhoused neighbors.

Founded by Lillian and Thomas Chesley, ATOLW grew from a small outreach effort into a dedicated team of as many as 50 volunteers serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness from 2014 through 2020. During the holiday season, our outreach extended beyond basic necessities. Each year, we distributed as many as 250 Christmas boxes, providing practical support while helping restore something equally important—a sense of dignity, belonging, and hope.

That experience shaped the organization we are today. We learned that meaningful service begins by meeting people where they are, listening to their needs, building relationships, and reminding them that they are seen, valued, and not forgotten.

As the world changed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, so did the landscape of community outreach. Changes in government policies and restrictions made it increasingly difficult for ATOLW to reach and serve people experiencing homelessness through the approaches we had previously used.

While our commitment to people facing housing insecurity remained unchanged, these challenges prompted us to consider how we could expand our mission and address emerging needs within our communities.

One of those needs is the growing housing insecurity experienced by college students ages 18–24 who are working toward an education and a more secure future. For some students, the cost of housing can create difficult choices between meeting basic needs and remaining in school.

At the same time, many older adults—including seniors and empty nesters—have available space in their homes and are seeking greater companionship, connection, and purpose.

These needs present an opportunity to bring people together.

ATOLW is developing a thoughtfully supported home-sharing program that connects college students seeking affordable housing with older adults and other eligible hosts who have space to share.

Depending on the individual arrangement, students may contribute companionship and assistance with light household tasks, while hosts may benefit from additional income and the opportunity to build a meaningful intergenerational relationship.

We also envision opportunities for alumni and other community members who want to help students access housing while contributing to a stronger culture of connection and mutual support.

This is more than sharing a home. It is about creating opportunity through relationships and building a stronger community together.

A Touch of Love Works will facilitate home-sharing relationships between eligible college students and participating hosts, including seniors, empty nesters, alumni, and others who have appropriate space to share.

The program is designed around mutual benefit, personal choice, safety, and respect for individual boundaries.

Thoughtful Matching

ATOLW will assess the needs, expectations, preferences, and circumstances of both students and hosts to help identify compatible living arrangements.

Screening & Preparation

Participating students and hosts will go through an established screening and preparation process designed to promote safe and appropriate matches.

Clearly Defined Agreements

ATOLW will work with participants to establish clear expectations regarding rent, household responsibilities, privacy, schedules, shared spaces, and other aspects of the living arrangement before a match begins.

Ongoing Support

Home-sharing does not end when a student moves in. ATOLW intends to provide continued support and case management to help participants navigate the relationship, address concerns, and promote successful living arrangements.

Increasing Affordability

ATOLW will work collaboratively with students and hosts to establish rental arrangements that are affordable and mutually agreeable. Through fundraising, grants, and community support, we intend to provide rental assistance when resources permit, helping make home-sharing more accessible to students who need it most.

Our goal is to create a framework where both students and hosts can feel supported, respected, and confident throughout the home-sharing experience.

Creating More Than a Place to Live

At A Touch of Love Works, we believe housing can be more than a roof over someone's head. It can provide stability, belonging, opportunity, and the relationships that help people move forward.

Our home-sharing initiative is designed to create meaningful benefits for both students and hosts.

For Students

Affordable home-sharing can help reduce the burden of housing insecurity and give students greater stability as they pursue their education.

With a stable place to live, students may have more opportunity to focus on their studies, personal development, and long-term goals. Living with a supportive host can also provide a sense of belonging and connection—something that can be especially meaningful for students navigating college and adulthood away from home.

For Seniors & Empty Nesters

Sharing a home can offer more than supplemental income. For older adults with available space, welcoming a student into the home can create companionship, renewed purpose, and meaningful intergenerational connection.

Students may also provide companionship and limited assistance with everyday household needs, creating a relationship in which both individuals have something meaningful to contribute.

For Alumni & Community Hosts

Alumni and other community members can play an important role in expanding access to housing by opening their homes or supporting students through the program.

Their participation can create a direct connection between people who have benefited from educational opportunities and students who are working toward their own future.

A Shared Home. A Shared Purpose. A Brighter Future.

When people have access to stable housing and meaningful relationships, possibilities begin to expand.

Through home-sharing, ATOLW seeks to turn a housing challenge into an opportunity for people to support one another, build relationships across generations, and strengthen the communities we share.

We are not simply connecting people with rooms. We are creating pathways to stability, connection, and opportunity.

There Is a Place for You Here

A Touch of Love Works is entering a new chapter—and we invite you to be part of it.

Building on more than a decade of serving our unhoused neighbors with compassion and dignity, we are expanding our work to address housing insecurity among college students while creating opportunities for meaningful connection with people who have space, resources, skills, or a desire to help.

This movement cannot happen without community.

Whether you can open your home, contribute financially, volunteer your time, connect us with others, or simply help spread the word, your involvement can help make this vision possible.

Open Your Home

Become a host and explore the possibility of sharing an available room with a college student.

Become a Student Participant

Learn whether home-sharing may provide the stability and affordability you need to pursue your education.

Give

Help ATOLW provide rental assistance and the resources necessary to develop and sustain the program.

Volunteer

Share your time, talents, professional expertise, or skills to help build and support the program.

Become a Community Partner

Connect ATOLW with colleges, universities, churches, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other groups that share our commitment to creating opportunity through community.

Spread the Word

Help us reach students, potential hosts, and community members who may benefit from or contribute to this initiative.

Share Your Voice

Participate in advisory efforts and help us develop a program that is thoughtful, safe, responsive, and grounded in the needs of the people we serve.

BE PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER

You may have a room to share.

You may have resources to give.

You may have skills to offer.

Or you may simply believe that everyone deserves an opportunity to build a better future.

Whatever you bring, there is a place for you in this movement.

Together, we can help make housing more accessible, create meaningful connections across generations, and open doors to opportunity.

Join A Touch of Love Works and help us change what is possible—one student, one host, and one home at a time.