Airbnb.org announces partnerships to house 100,000 Ukrainian refugees

Ukraine: Airbnb.org announced a number of new partnerships with charities to provide free temporary housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing war in Ukraine.

In its latest update on its response to the humanitarian crisis, the charity arm of Airbnb revealed that it is collaborating with Global Empowerment Mission [GEM]EURORDIS and Planting Peace, continuing similar partnerships with Refugees welcome Italy and Rescate in Italy, Acoge Red and Diakonia Madrid in Spain, and Bienvenida in Berlin, Germany, to provide housing for refugees.

Other partnerships with Airbnb.org to provide free short-term accommodation across Europe that have already been announced include the International Organization for Migration, HIAS, New Ukraine and Save the Children Sweden. Meanwhile, the organization is working closely with the German government and the US federal government – ​​the latter backing its commitment to host up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the conflict.

To date, the non-profit organisation helped nearly 11,000 people access temporary accommodation in Europe after fleeing war in Ukraine.

While Airbnb.org says it works with organizations that support all refugees, “regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity or identity”, the new charities it works with are specifically dedicated to helping. people from marginalized communities who are fleeing. Ukraine. This includes African students, people with rare diseases and their families, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+.

  • Global Empowerment Mission [GEM] aims to provide grassroots efforts with significant institutional impact for the most vulnerable disaster-affected populations around the world. Currently on the ground in Hungary, GEM uses support from Airbnb.org to provide accommodation for African students fleeing Ukraine.

Michael Capponi, President of Global Empowerment Mission, said, “We are very grateful for our partnership with Airbnb.org in this tragic Ukraine crisis. Thanks to this incredible program, GemBstrong has already been able to house 1,257 people in comfortable accommodation.

“Many of them are young students who would have been homeless in freezing temperatures without them,” he added.

  • EURORDIS is a patient-led, non-governmental alliance of patient organizations representing 995 rare disease patient organizations in 74 countries. With support from Airbnb.org, it will coordinate with the community of medical providers to connect patients with a wide range of rare diseases fleeing Ukraine to housing.

Michael Wilbur, COO of Eurordis-Rare Diseases Europe, said: “This partnership will bring real added value to people with rare diseases who lived in Ukraine and who have been displaced by war. Very often, people living with a rare disease need extra care and support.

“We hope this initiative will give hundreds of vulnerable families respite to find their bearings,” he added.

  • plant peace is a global non-profit organization founded to spread peace through humanitarian and environmental initiatives, ranging from a network of orphanages and shelters in developing countries and Amazon Rainforest Conservation to LGBTQIA+ Rights Advocacy and Equality House and Transgender House. The organization is currently on the ground on the border of Poland and Ukraine providing aid to refugees, with a particular focus on those who have nowhere to go, no family to offer them a secure, long-term housing or those with pets.

Thanking hosts for their “continued and overwhelming generosity,” Airbnb.org added in its update that more than 33,000 people have signed up to offer their homes to refugees under the program, including more than 20,000 in Europe and nearly 7,000 in the United States.

Additionally, Airbnb co-founders – Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk and his wife Elizabeth – have pledged up to $10 million in donations to Airbnb.org from March 15 through April 30, 2022.

Those interested in supporting Airbnb.org’s initiative to help refugees fleeing Ukraine, including offering free or discounted stays or donating to Airbnb.org, are encouraged to visit this link to be involved.

Learn how travel and hospitality companies responded to Ukraine’s invasion with charity here.

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