Building community, one odd job at a time

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 7/10/18

Have you ever wished you had a son — or daughter — who was happy to tackle the heavy lifting around your home, with a smile on their face? Of course you have. Especially if you waited …

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Building community, one odd job at a time

Posted

Have you ever wished you had a son — or daughter — who was happy to tackle the heavy lifting around your home, with a smile on their face?

Of course you have. Especially if you waited until last week to install your air conditioners.

The good news is, you can have one, or several, in very short order. You don't have to raise them, and they won't complain when you ask them to do stuff. Yes, you do have to pay them…this isn't utopia, though the concept behind the company, Rent Sons (RentSons.com), was founded on some idealistic (though realistic) principals.

"We're trying to get young adults connected with their community," said Dan Darezzo, the young company's "Son Ambassador" (and marketing guru). "We feel there's a really big disconnect between this (20-something) generation and their neighbors, and knowing their neighbor's story."

"It's not just about a job," said founder and CEO, "First Son" Pat Brown. "It's giving of yourself, and of your time. We've described ourselves as the "Uber" of odd jobs, but we're trying to be more that that.

"We're trying to have a heart — to be the Peace Corps of odd jobs."

The odd job could be anything you'd want a son (or daughter — you can definitely rent a daughter!) to do: landscaping, painting, moving, junk removal….anything that requires an extra set of hands. The quality of the work and of the sons and daughters is high; and, as with Uber, there is the reciprocity element; the expectation that everyone will act in good faith.

Just like the way things work in a healthy community.

"There's this fascinating TED talk about the study of happiness, and there was a 4 or 5 generation study of the source of happiness," said Brown. "And they found that the number one contributor to happiness is authentic community relationships. And that loneliness is a bigger killer than alcoholism and cigarettes combined."

Rent sons wasn't exactly born from such lofty ideals. "No, it came from a place of wanting to pay for college," laughed Brown, at 2010 Portsmouth High School graduate who spent some time in New York City staging special effects shows for DJs before coming home to Little Compton. Here, he found the community he longed for, but needed to knock on doors for work. Initially, the name "Rent Sons" was meant to be cheeky, but quickly came to mean so much for for Brown and the rest of his team which, besides Darezzo, includes Pat Martin as the East Bay Community Builder. The management team is rounded out by community builders for South County and the Providence area, as well as a community coordinator. They have grown exponentially in the last year, employing over 100 sons and daughters and more than 1000 "neighbors" (aka clients).

Brown's grand vision includes a community where there is no need among us. He's not talking about financial need, though he would like to establish a non-profit arm of Rent Sons where he could fundraise to provide services to those who cannot afford the company's hourly rate.

"Things happen, people get bogged down by illness, or grief," said Brown, referring to a neighbor who lost control of his garden after his wife, who was the one with the green thumb, passed away. "He and his daughter decided they wanted to get it back in shape, so they hired us. It may look like we're just weeding, but there's more to it than that.

"We're not just weeding. We're bonding, growing as people."

Rent Sons

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