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Offering housing to refugees fleeing Ukraine, from all communities

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Key Takeaways

  • Airbnb.org is working with nonprofits to offer free, temporary housing to people from marginalized communities who are fleeing Ukraine, from African students to families affected by a rare disease.
  • These organizations include Global Empowerment Mission, EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe and Planting Peace.
  • Recently, Airbnb.org has announced collaborations with Refugees Welcome Italia in Italy, Rescate, Red Acoge and Diaconía Madrid in Spain, and Bienvenida in Berlin, Germany to offer housing to refugees.
  • Nearly 11,000 people have now received temporary accommodations through Airbnb.org in Europe as part of Airbnb.org’s efforts in Ukraine.

Key Takeaways

  • Airbnb.org is working with nonprofits to offer free, temporary housing to people from marginalized communities who are fleeing Ukraine, from African students to families affected by a rare disease.
  • These organizations include Global Empowerment Mission, EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe and Planting Peace.
  • Recently, Airbnb.org has announced collaborations with Refugees Welcome Italia in Italy, Rescate, Red Acoge and Diaconía Madrid in Spain, and Bienvenida in Berlin, Germany to offer housing to refugees.
  • Nearly 11,000 people have now received temporary accommodations through Airbnb.org in Europe as part of Airbnb.org’s efforts in Ukraine.

Airbnb.org is announcing that it is working with a number of new international and regional nonprofits active on the ground to offer free, temporary housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from Ukraine. To date, nearly 11,000 people have now received temporary accommodations through Airbnb.org in Europe as part of Airbnb.org’s efforts to help those fleeing Ukraine. 

While Airbnb.org collaborates with organizations that are supporting all refugees, regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, or how they identify, these nonprofits which with Airbnb.org is now working are specifically dedicated to assisting people from marginalized communities who are fleeing Ukraine, including African students, people with rare diseases and their families, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Global Empowerment Mission

Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) aims to provide grassroots efforts with a large institutional impact for the most vulnerable populations affected by disasters around the world. Currently on the ground in Hungary, GEM is using the support of Airbnb.org to provide housing to African students who are fleeing Ukraine. 

“We’re so grateful for our partnership with Airbnb.org in this tragic Ukraine crisis. Thanks to this incredible program, GemBstrong has been able to already place 1,257 people in comfortable homes. Many of them are young students that would have been homeless in freezing temperatures if it wasn’t for them.”

Michael Capponi, President of Global Empowerment Mission

EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe

EURORDIS is a non-governmental patient-driven alliance of patient organizations, representing 995 rare disease patient organizations in 74 countries. With the support of Airbnb.org, they will be coordinating with the medical care provider community, to connect patients with a wide range of rare diseases who are fleeing Ukraine to housing.

“This partnership will provide real value for people with rare diseases who were living in Ukraine and who were displaced by the war. Very often people living with a rare condition need extra care and support. We hope this initiative will give hundreds of vulnerable families breathing space to find their feet.”

Michael Wilbur, Chief Operating Officer of EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe

Planting Peace

Planting Peace is a global nonprofit organization founded for the purpose of spreading peace in a hurting world, through humanitarian and environmental initiatives ranging from a network of orphanages and safe havens in developing countries and rainforest conservation efforts in the Amazon to LGBTQIA+ rights advocacy and Equality House and Transgender House. Planting Peace is currently on the ground at the border of Poland and Ukraine delivering aid to refugees, with a particular focus on those with nowhere to go, no family to offer them safe, long-term housing or those with pets.

This builds on Airbnb.org’s work with a number of other organizations worldwide. Recently, Airbnb.org has announced collaborations with Refugees Welcome Italia, Bienvenida, a project of the NGO PxP Embassy e.V, and Rescate, Red Acoge and Diaconía Madrid, to offer housing to refugees in Italy, Germany and Spain, respectively. Airbnb.org continues to support the International Organization for Migration, HIAS, Nova Ukraine and Save the Children Sweden and work with the government of Germany, to connect people fleeing from Ukraine to free, short-term housing across Europe. Airbnb.org is also coordinating directly with the US federal government to support their commitment to welcome up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine to the US. 

Airbnb.org is grateful for the continuing, overwhelming generosity from Hosts on Airbnb as well as other individuals around the world looking to assist this effort. To date, more than 33,000 people have signed up to offer their homes to refugees through Airbnb.org, including more than 20,000 across Europe and nearly 7,000 in the US.

Anyone who is interested in supporting Airbnb.org’s initiative to help refugees fleeing Ukraine can go to airbnb.org/help-ukraine to get involved, including by offering free or discounted stays or donating to Airbnb.org. Airbnb’s co-founders – Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk and his wife Elizabeth – personally committed to match up to $10 million in donations to Airbnb.org from March 15, 2022 through April 30, 2022. 

Airbnb.org does not offer housing directly to individuals at this time. Airbnb.org is working with other nonprofit partners who facilitate stays for refugee guests. Additional updates on the program will be shared at airbnb.org/help-ukraine. 
Read more about: Hosting, Ukraine

About Airbnb 

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over
4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Travel on Airbnb keeps more of the financial benefits of tourism with the people and places that make it happen. Airbnb has generated billions of dollars in earnings for Hosts, most of whom are individuals listing the homes in which they live. Among Hosts who report their gender, more than half are women, and one in five employed Hosts are either teachers or healthcare workers. Travel on Airbnb also has generated more than $4 billion in tax revenue around the world. Airbnb has helped advance more than 1,000 regulatory frameworks for short-term rentals, including in 80% of our top 200 geographies. In late 2020, to support our continued expansion and diversification, we launched the City Portal to provide governments with a one-stop shop that supports data sharing and compliance with local registration rules. We continue to invest in innovations and tools to support our ongoing work with governments around the world to advance travel that best serves communities.

About Airbnb.org

Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.’s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org’s charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.

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