100,000 people fleeing Ukraine have found stays through Airbnb.org

Six months after announcing a commitment to offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine, we are proud to share Airbnb.org has met this goal thanks to a global outpouring of support from Hosts on Airbnb, donors to Airbnb.org and humanitarian organisations helping people on the ground. 

“At the heart of Airbnb.org is the incredible community of Hosts who time and again demonstrate their generosity by opening their homes to people in need,” said Catherine Powell, Global Head of Hosting. “We are also immensely grateful for the tireless work of organisations whose partnership with Airbnb.org touched 100,000 human lives who desperately needed to feel the warmth and welcome of a community.”

Since February, more than 48,000 Hosts offered temporary stays to refugees in 160 countries and regions around the world through Airbnb.org. That number includes more than 33,000 Hosts who opted-in to offer free and discounted stays since February 28. To date, refugees fleeing Ukraine have found refuge with Hosts across more than 90 countries and regions, including Germany, Poland, Denmark, Romania, Hungary and Canada. 

This milestone is made possible by Airbnb.org’s trusted humanitarian partners that helped book and coordinate stays for refugee guests. Airbnb.org worked with 40 organizations around the world to provide temporary accommodation to people fleeing Ukraine, including longtime partners HIAS and new partners such as IOM, Alight and Nova Ukraine. 

These stays were funded by Airbnb, Inc., donors to Airbnb.org, and the generosity of Hosts who offered free and discounted stays through Airbnb.org. Since late February, Airbnb.org has received more than $8.4 million in small-dollar, direct donations from individual donors across 95 countries and regions. 

Supporting refugees is core to Airbnb.org’s work. Though Airbnb.org reached the goal it set out to house 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine in February, it remains dedicated to working with partners to support refugees from Ukraine and beyond in the months to come.

Host Rafal’s story 

In the week after Russia invaded Ukraine, performer and Host Rafał could sense its impact on his hometown of Wroclaw, in southwestern Poland. Boxes of donated supplies piled up outside a Ukrainian cultural center in his neighborhood. He heard Ukrainian spoken on the streets and in the shops. 

Rafał was amazed by how quickly his friends and neighbors responded to the influx of people fleeing the war. People donated food at the Wroclaw train station and gathered supplies to deliver to the Ukraine border. He began organizing a musical benefit with his colleagues, but he also wanted to find a more immediate way to help. 

Rafał learned he could offer free and discounted stays through Airbnb.org. “It’s one of the worst things not to have a place to stay, a place to sleep, a place to come back to,” he says.

Rafał continues to list his house through Airbnb.org to welcome guests displaced by crises, and has also helped interpret Airbnb.org webinars into Polish.

Artem’s story

Artem is one of the millions of people who was forced to flee Ukraine following the attack by Russia. He and his mother first sought shelter in a subway station, but as the attacks intensified they made the difficult decision to travel to Lviv, and then Poland in search of safety. They eventually found themselves in Berlin where they were connected to Safebow, an organization that helps evacuate and resettle displaced Ukrainians from marginalized communities. 

As a 21-year-old transgender man, Artem and other LGBTQ refugees face isolation and discrimination which makes it harder for them to access resources. However, thanks to the help of Safebow, Artem and his mother were connected to the Organization for Refugee, Asylum, and Migration (ORAM) which partnered with Airbnb.org to provide stays to displaced LGBTQ Ukrainians – including Artem – in Berlin and other welcoming European cities, as well as supporting partner organizations in countries neighboring Ukraine.

“The housing was important for me,” Artem shared with ORAM, “to have my own free space separate from my mom.” While Artem enjoyed the privacy of his own room, the home provided through Airbnb.org allowed him and his mother to spend time together in the kitchen preparing food to share for the first time in a while.

Although he misses his home, Artem is focused on building a new life in Germany, and grateful for the support he received from Airbnb.org and ORAM.