trade college students? Portland bound for Corvallis bound (apartment, rent)

[rushenee]

My son has been accepted at OSU for fall 2008. He is a young 18 year old. He will be vacating a bedroom in our home. I'm wondering if there's a family in the Corvallis area planning on sending their child to any Portland area college this fall. I'm suggesting that we trade kids. Our house for your house, for as long as the kids are interested. I'm not talking about for their entire time in school, but at least the first term, or whenever each family or individual decides a change is needed.


I'd like my son to be independent, but he's simply not ready to take on school, homework and worrying about how he'll survive day to day, a job, and everything else that's going to hit him full force. I'd like him to be able to ease into this new part of his life with some transitional assistance.
He's is bright (3.86 GPA), played varsity basketball, track, lift weights and has a tae-kwon-do blue belt, he spends a lot of time alone studying, but is well liked by his peers and teachers (according to the teachers...he doesn't bring friends home, too tired, I guess) he likes to watch sports and play computer games. No drinking, drugs, or smoking. He's polite, respectful, clean, calm and trustworthy. He's never held a job, except volunteering in the summer on basketball camps, doesn't spend money, rides his bike everywhere and never wants anything. Yesterday was his 18th birthday and I asked him what he wanted. He said he'd like a stash of straws for when he makes milkshakes. Otherwise he said if he really needed something he knows he would already have it.

The issue we have is money, college is costing so much that I don't know how we'll help with his living expenses. I am just trying to explore creative options because the dorm costs and meal plan prices are out of this world. We simply cannot afford for him to live on campus and pay his school fees. He applied for M.I.T and we were hoping to get one of their great scholarships but he was denied admission so we're now scrambling to make this arrangement for OSU on a shoestring budget and a year full of missed scholarship deadlines work out for him.

We can offer your young adult a bedroom, fully furnished, access to all areas of our home, all supplies provided by parents such as towels, sheets, toilet paper, saran wrap, dishsoap, etc. and a separate refrigerator for their own use, garage space for bike, laundry facilities, internet, and all the amenities of a functioning household.

We're a bi-racial family, married 23 years, black dad, white mom (I was a financial aid counselor at PSU for 17 years so really know school kids and their issues), college educated, 2 older kids already living away from home, one leaving home this fall and two girls 12 (a speed skater) and one 14 (a finalist for this years' Portland Teen Idol) still living at home. We also rent a room to a grandmother who stays in our mother-in-law apartment. We have 2 cats and an off key piano. Currently we're both Tri-Met (city) bus drivers and we live 9 minutes by bus to PSU, 45 min by bus to U of P, and 30 min by bus to any PCC campus/ 15 min bike ride to Reed. We're located in the heart of the city at 39th and Powell in SE Portland, on 3 major bus lines and walking distance to parks, shopping and the Hawthorne district.

Even if you don't have a child to trade, but have an empty space in your home you want to fill with a wonderful young man, email me, let me know what you'd charge on a monthly basis for taking him in. Because he's not into partying and "getting wasted" like so many college kids I want to try to keep him from being forced into a housing situation where he's living with 5 guys who are drinking all the time and not taking their education seriously.

Your age is of no consequence, my son has spent the last 4 years visiting with his grandmother (a recent double mastectomy breast cancer survivor) every day after school/practice/games/meets, etc. before he headed home to the family. He is comfortable with people 60+ years and older.

I know this is a huge long-shot, but I just cannot believe I'm the only parent out there that needs creative housing options for their first year college student.
Thanks for reading. email me, Elizabeth, at rushenee@comcast.net with your thoughts or comments or offers.