Last month, Airbnb and Airbnb.org announced that Airbnb.org would offer free, temporary housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from Ukraine. Airbnb.org has been working to establish partnerships with international and regional nonprofits active on the ground, who are responsible for booking and coordinating stays for refugee guests, regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, or how they identify.
Airbnb.org is announcing its collaboration with several additional organizations, including longtime partner HIAS and Nova Ukraine. This follows Airbnb.org’s partnership with the International Organization for Migration – to connect people fleeing from Ukraine to free, short-term housing in Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia – as well as the government of Germany and Save the Children Sweden, as part of the A Safe Start initiative.
HIAS is a world leader in providing humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. Since 2017 — when Airbnb first began efforts to provide free, temporary housing to refugees, which would evolve into Airbnb.org — HIAS has been one of the program’s earliest partners, most recently working with Airbnb.org to support refugees and asylees from Central and South America and to meet its goal in offering housing to more than 24,000 Afghan newcomers. Building on these nearly five years of partnership, HIAS and Airbnb.org will connect people fleeing Ukraine to free, short-term housing, beginning in Poland.
HIAS is grateful to partner again with Airbnb.org to rapidly address the urgent housing needs of refugees fleeing the crisis in Ukraine. Together we will ensure that the most vulnerable, including women, children and the elderly – have access to immediate shelter and critical protection services. Our emergency partnership for the Ukraine crisis leverages five years of lessons learned and best practice established from the HIAS-Airbnb partnership serving refugees, asylum seekers and those forcibly displaced by conflict.
Jessica Reese, Vice President of Institutional Development, HIAS
Nova Ukraine is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine and raising awareness about Ukraine around the world. Nova Ukraine will work with Airbnb.org to connect refugees to emergency housing, referring eligible applicants to Airbnb.org to receive vouchers for free short-term accommodations.
With 3 million refugees having crossed the border already, the need for housing is growing. Ordinary people reach out to Nova Ukraine daily to offer their homes as refugees seek temporary accommodation. Together with Airbnb.org, we have an effective way to connect the dots and contribute to a meaningful solution for those in need.
Yulia Zimmerman, Marketing Lead, Nova Ukraine
In the past three weeks, Airbnb.org has received an overwhelming response from individuals looking to assist this effort. More than 27,200 people have signed to offer their homes to refugees through Airbnb.org, including more than 17,100 across Europe and more than 5,300 in the US.
Airbnb.org has also received more than $6.4 million in small-dollar, direct donations from a total of more than 70,000 individual donors across 95 countries. In addition, Airbnb.org has received support from the Utah Jazz Foundation – which is funding more than 32,200 nights of temporary housing for refugees fleeing Ukraine – and Levi Strauss & Co., which is mobilizing employees across Europe to share their space with refugees. Levi Strauss & Co. is offering additional assistance through their hardship fund, The Red Tab Foundation, which is opening their support to employees who experience financial strain from taking refugees (family or otherwise) into their homes.
Inspired by this generosity, last week 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 March 31, 2022.
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 participating in this matching campaign or offering free or discounted stays.
Airbnb.org does not offer housing directly to individuals at this time. Airbnb.org is working with other nonprofit partners who book and coordinate stays for refugee guests. Additional updates on the program will be shared at airbnb.org/help-ukraine.
