from METRO - Vancouver, By Chris Kelly on 16 November 2009

Desperate for accommo­dation for her party of six during the Vancouver Olympic Games, Calgarian Andrea Clements turned to the Internet at the suggestion of a friend.

She found Homes for the Games, which matches up Olympic visitors with Vancouver hosts, and found her social conscience soothed as well.

“Knowing that 50 per cent of what I pay goes to homeless charities was what sold me,” said Clements. “Hotel rooms were grossly expensive, if there were any available at all, and this was a way to give back to a city, which is giving so much of itself to the Games.”

Homes for the Games is the brainchild of Charles Montgomery, a Canadian journalist, who was compelled by the idea of involving Vancouverites in opening up their homes to out-of-town visitors and helping out charities at the same time.

“Charles and the rest of the board of directors wanted to bring an Olympic legacy of a different sort to Vancouver,” said Deena Tukaryk, a board member and marketing co-ordinator for the project.

Fifty per cent of the proceeds are donated to either the Street to Home Foundation or Covenant House Vancouver.

Metro Vancouver