Free Housing for Ukrainian Refugees

Airbnb is offering free temporary housing for 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. It announced the effort in partnership with it's charitable arm, Airbnb.org, and the generosity of its hosts. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. As we've been hearing, many Ukrainians are fleeing their country because of the Russian invasion. The accommodations will be offered to people with immediate housing needs, paid for by Airbnb, the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, and hosts that offer their homes and discounts for those accommodations. Help During Moments of Crisis Airbnb sent letters to European governments detailing the support that's being offered. They were signed by CEO Brian Chesky and other company officials. The letters went to officials in Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Romania. Airbnb says it will try to accommodate any special needs, including the possibility of longer-term stays. Airbnb and its charitable arm have helped more than 50,000 refugees over the last five years. More than 4,000 donors have contributed to Airbnb.org's "refugee fund" to help pay for that effort. Just recently, it announced that it helped 21,300 Afghan refugees and is working on helping another 20,000 from Afghanistan, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America. The offer to help Ukrainian refugees will add another 100,000 to those numbers. COVID-19 Accommodations for Relief Workers There was a huge effort by Airbnb and hosts to help frontline workers during the initial spread of COVID-19. That helped put tens of thousands of healthcare professionals and relief workers where they were needed the most. Airbnb.org also helped victims of floods that devastated parts of Western Europe last year. Airbnb.org says it is working to establish partnerships in countries where Ukrainian refugees are fleeing. In the meantime, it says that people who need immediate support should contact the UN Refugee Agency. If you'd like to read more about this effort, or accommodations you'd like to provide to refugees, you'll find a link to the Airbnb announcement in the show notes for this episode at newsforinvestors.com. Also, please remember to hit the subscribe button, and leave a review! You can also join our real estate investor network for free at newsforinvestors.com. That gives you access to the Investor Portal where you'll find information on rental markets and sample property pro-formas. You can also connect with our experienced investment counselors, property teams, lenders, 1031 exchange facilitators, attorneys, CPAs and more. Thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke. Links: 1 -https://news.airbnb.com/help-ukraine/