If I Withdraw My Application to Molson Coors Can I Apply Again
Among the U.Southward. companies attempting to assist Ukrainians fleeing Russia's war machine assault on their country, Airbnb Inc. has been one of the most prominent.
First, the abode-rental platform offered to business firm 100,000 Ukrainian refugees for costless, so social-media users turned Airbnb into a donation tool to help people on the ground in the war-torn country. The company has soaked upward attention, with co-founder and Chief Executive Brian Chesky appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," quondam President Barack Obama promoting Airbnb's offer to house refugees, and celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis leading a donation drive.
The narrative of a generous company swooping in to assistance vulnerable people is a compelling one, but a closer look reveals a more nuanced story in which Airbnb
ABNB,
is scrambling to respond to a fast-moving crisis and plays a more than intermediary role than the headlines advise.
Similar other gig-economy companies, Airbnb is a platform that facilitates transactions between different parties, and that arroyo is reflected in its refugee housing program besides — the plan relies on Airbnb hosts to open their homes to refugees, nonprofit partners that register refugees and book Airbnb stays for them, and members of the public who donate money to help pay for the refugees' stays.
The details of how the fledgling program actually works have been lost in news coverage most Airbnb "offering free refugee housing," and that's led to frustration amid some Ukrainians and people seeking to assistance them. Some have struggled to use the system, which in reality uses nonprofits as middlemen to place refugees in free stays provided by Airbnb hosts.
"At best, it's badly worded. At worst, information technology's misleading and not enough care is being taken," Josh Feldberg, a volunteer in Spain who attempted to help Ukrainian refugees observe free housing, said of Airbnb'southward offer.
Feldberg was trying to observe housing for a grouping of 8 Ukrainians, including immature children, who needed to detect a place to stay quickly when they realized they couldn't return dwelling after the Russian invasion. They booked an Airbnb in Murcia and paid total toll, 2,000 Euros ($two,200) for a month, he said. When he contacted Airbnb to see if he could at least get the guest fees waived for the Ukrainian group, the Airbnb representative told him it wasn't possible to waive fees considering the group had booked the stay themselves, and that refugees can only exist referred by refugee resettlement groups partnering with Airbnb.org, the company's separate nonprofit.
'We don't deal with individual cases'
Anna Samardak left her Kyiv home on Feb. 25 for Uzhgorod, and idea Airbnb's offer of free housing sounded like a great option when she decided to so get out Uzhgorod with her mother and two young sons later on Russian bombs started exploding nearby. She had used Airbnb in the past to book vacation travel, and had positive experiences with the platform. Merely when she checked the company's Aid Ukraine website, she couldn't observe any information on how Ukrainians fleeing the country could volume gratis shelter.
Samardak contacted the visitor, and in a March viii text substitution with an Airbnb back up agent, a translation of which was viewed by MarketWatch, she learned that if she wanted help, she would need to be invited to the refugee housing program by ane of Airbnb.org's nonprofit partners.
"Nosotros don't deal with private cases," the Airbnb representative told her.
"'Unfortunately, Airbnb does non accept a clear listing of the organizations considering there are many of them in completely unlike countries.'"
When Samardak asked how she could get invited and for a list of the nonprofit groups, the Airbnb representative referred her to the Help Ukraine folio, proverb that information would be published in that location, and added that the platform'due south back up team was "always available" on Airbnb'southward Aid page.
"I understand your feelings and the complexity of the state of affairs," the representative told Samardak. "Unfortunately, Airbnb does non have a articulate list of the organizations because there are many of them in completely different countries."
At i point in the exchange, an Airbnb "Helpbot" messaged Samardak, asking, "Practise you lot still need assistance?" "Yep I however need assistance," replied Samardak, who asked again for a list of nonprofits working with Airbnb.org. An Airbnb support-desk representative referred her to previous letters in the exchange, and said that was all the information they could provide.
Vadim Tolpeco, a Ukrainian living in Vienna, tried to assist Ukrainian refugees volume gratis housing on Airbnb, just couldn't get details on how the system works.
Vadim Tolpeco
A frustrated Samardak then told an Airbnb employee that the company was offering a service that it was not providing, and that Airbnb was profiting past enhancing its image during a war. The Airbnb representative explained that the company uses nonprofit partners to place refugees to forestall fraud and to make certain the program reaches people who genuinely need assist.
"It'due south important for Airbnb to help real people that need real help," the representative told Samardak.
Samardark somewhen found a place to stay in Slovakia on a volunteer-run Facebook
FB,
group advertizement shelter for Ukrainians. Volunteers have also started online platforms to link Ukrainians with housing, just the bootleg sites have sparked fears that users could exist vulnerable to human trafficking, which has been a major business raised by UNICEF. Aid groups working with Ukrainians say vetting potential Airbnb hosts will be crucial too, Politico reported.
Some Airbnb hosts say they can't beget to house refugees
Meanwhile, some regular Airbnb hosts feel too much is being asked of them in the refugee-housing programme. Airbnb hosts who volunteer to list their accommodations for free for Ukrainian refugees won't take to pay the usual 3% service fee to Airbnb, only they aren't compensated beyond that.
However, in cases where hosts are willing to firm Ukrainian refugees simply all the same want to charge their usual rate, the company's carve up nonprofit, Airbnb.org, will cover the price of the refugee'southward stay, Airbnb spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco told MarketWatch.
"As huge as Airbnb is, if they really want to be expert citizens, they might brand a contribution to compensate the hosts somehow," Karen Grimes, an Airbnb "Superhost" and bout guide in Ocala, Fla., said. "They have a lot of money and that might make me a picayune more acquiescent to it."
Grimes rents out a primary suite with its own entrance in her house about the World Equestrian Center for $120 a nighttime in the high season, income she relies on to help pay for upkeep on her house. She signed up to participate when Airbnb offered to house Afghan refugees in 2021, just took her space off the listing due to concerns that a large family would move into her property for months.
Co-ordinate to the company, the average length of stay during the Afghan refugee program has been 16 to 17 days.
Grimes said she would consider housing Ukrainian refugees, merely wouldn't be able to do it in the high season because it would cost her too much money.
"Airbnb is asking the hosts to non have whatever income," she said.
Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky did acknowledge on Twitter
TWTR,
that gratuitous stays for Ukrainian refugees will be funded past the company, its nonprofit, and "through the generosity of hosts."
"We have said that nosotros are not able to practise this in many cases without the generosity of our hosts," Airbnb's DeBold Fusco said. "Admittedly, we are very, very grateful. And we hope that more people consider being hosts."
" 'Right now at this time we don't provide housing directly to refugees; it's provided through nonprofit agencies that work with refugees. "
While the rollout of the Ukrainian effort has hitting some snags, Airbnb has attempted to address them. Since its initial announcement, Airbnb has partnered with the International System for Migration, and Airbnb.org'southward Assistance Ukraine website now lists an e-mail address for refugees in demand of shelter who are in Poland, Slovakia, Moldova, Romania or Hungary.
As for the fleeing Ukrainians who've been frustrated to learn that they need to register start with a refugee agency, DeBold Fusco noted that the company has said publicly that it doesn't directly provide housing to refugees.
"Nosotros've been pretty clear and we included this in our announcement, which is that we provide housing through nonprofits, nonprofits that are working directly with refugees," she said. "Right now at this time we don't provide housing directly to refugees; it's provided through nonprofit agencies that work with refugees."
Airbnb has successfully housed refugees in the past
Airbnb's nonprofit partners found temporary housing for more than xx,000 Afghans final twelvemonth in the wake of the U.Southward. withdrawal from the region.
"Airbnb's partnership has been aught brusk of disquisitional" in helping resettle Afghan refugees, said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, or LIRS, a faith-based U.Due south. nonprofit working on clearing and refugee bug.
"They really are the gold standard in how individual companies tin can make a real difference," O'Mara Vignarajah said of Airbnb. "There's no telling how many lives we tin change for the better when nosotros harness the power of public-private partnerships."
Airbnb 'made it like shooting fish in a barrel' to house Afghan refugees
A look at Airbnb'due south initiative to business firm Afghan refugees shows how the offer of complimentary shelter works in practice. Through a grant from Airbnb.org, LIRS was given special access to the Airbnb platform, where LIRS employees could book stays for refugees.
O'Mara Vignarajah said Airbnb "made it easy" to quickly find temporary housing for refugees, who sometimes had only a 24-hour interval or ii'due south notice before having to leave the military bases where they were showtime housed later on arriving in the U.S. Having condom, stable housing is a primal element in helping refugees build new lives, she said, but the nationwide shortage of affordable housing presents a continual challenge.
LIRS helped resettle some xi,000 Afghan refugees in a matter of months following the U.Southward. withdrawal. About one-half used temporary Airbnb lodging.
Another Airbnb nonprofit partner says its partnership with the company helped provide temporary housing concluding year for 5,000 refugees, including those from Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, in places similar the U.S., Hellenic republic, Republic of colombia, and Mexico.
Sydney Morton of the International Rescue Committee said the global nonprofit system, whose headquarters is in New York, has been working with Airbnb.org since 2016.
The partnership "has helped streamline the IRC's resettlement efforts past providing a revolutionary style to support newly arriving refugees and asylum-seeking families with temporary housing," she said. Though the arrangement is not currently working to place Ukrainian refugees in temporary housing through the Airbnb partnership, she said the IRC is working to help those refugees who are arriving in Poland in other ways.
'Nosotros still have lots of people to take care of'
Rona Popal, executive director of the Afghan Coalition in Fremont, Calif., said her organization has helped place 70 families, or a total of 250 people, in temporary housing through the Airbnb platform since receiving a grant from Airbnb.org in Nov. She is at present waiting for the nonprofit to approve her application for a new grant so the program tin keep.
"We still have lots of other people to have care of," she said, adding that her organisation gets "hundreds of calls a day" from Afghan refugees looking for housing, seeking help with deposits for rent and more than.
One of the refugees the Afghan Coalition placed in a couple of Airbnbs is Edrees Popalzay. The 26-year-erstwhile came to California in December after having been in a refugee camp in New Jersey since August. The coalition helped him find temporary housing in two split up Airbnbs in the Bay Area in Dec and January, and he is now staying with a friend.
"That programme was good for newcomers who don't have credit," he told MarketWatch, adding that he was able to stay with other refugees and felt a sense of customs thanks to the Afghan Coalition and its partnership with Airbnb.
Popalzay, who said he has already lined up a job just is waiting for potency to brainstorm working in the U.S., said his wife and half dozen-month-old daughter are still in Afghanistan along with his mom and brothers. Equally he waits, he's taking classes to improve his English language skills.
"I already take other plans for the future," he said.
Who foots the nib for Airbnb's complimentary refugee stays
Airbnb'due south refugee housing programme is officially operated by Airbnb.org, the nonprofit established by the visitor. People don't have to be existing Airbnb hosts to offer space to refugees; anyone can sign upwards through Airbnb.org without becoming an official host on the home-sharing platform.
The hosts either donate their infinite for complimentary or at a disbelieve, but donating a infinite doesn't necessarily count equally a tax-deductible charitable donation, Airbnb.org says on its website.
Airbnb doesn't brand whatsoever revenue off refugee stays, DeBold Fusco told MarketWatch, because the company waives the fee that hosts pay the platform when the guest is a refugee.
Notwithstanding, it's not the visitor itself that foots the bill for the refugee stays. Airbnb.org paid for the 20,000 stays provided for Afghan refugees, and donations from the public paid for an boosted i,300 stays for Afghans, DeBold Fusco said.
Airbnb.org is funded by both donations from the public and donations from Airbnb co-founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nate Blecharczyk. All three have signed the Giving Pledge, a public commitment to requite away most of their wealth either in their lifetimes or in their wills. The three donated $half dozen million to Airbnb.org when the nonprofit launched in 2020.
Airbnb co-founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nate Blecharczyk have all donated money to Airbnb.org, the nonprofit that helps provide gratuitous housing for refugees.
Photograph by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Airbnb
Chesky announced during his mid-March appearance on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" that the trio would match up to $10 1000000 in public donations to Airbnb.org through March 31.
Final June, Airbnb announced a $25 one thousand thousand fundraising initiative "to expand Airbnb.org'due south support of refugees and asylum seekers worldwide." Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who is worth an estimated $9.five billion, personally chipped in $5 million to start the effort. The public was invited to contribute likewise.
Though Airbnb started housing people affected by disasters in 2012, Airbnb.org didn't launch until 2020. So far the nonprofit has filed one fix of financial statements with the Internal Acquirement Service. They testify the nonprofit took in $10.5 million in cash contributions in 2020, plus $iv.3 million in donated stock.
The visitor spokeswoman didn't have details immediately available on what portion of Airbnb.org'due south revenue now comes from public donations and what share is from the company's founders.
DeBold Fusco said the company solicits public donations for Airbnb.org to give people a way to participate and help out when crises arise. "We saw an overwhelming response from the public to support these efforts. There is a want for folks to open their homes and for folks to back up it," DeBold Fusco told MarketWatch. Thank you to public donations, she said, Airbnb.org was able to expand its program housing Afghan refugees and provide shelter for additional people.
'Our charity can oft accept on the hue of that for-turn a profit, gratis market system'
Though Airbnb doesn't make any revenue from the refugee stays, the refugee housing program drives business to the platform, which could in theory lessen supply, drive up need and indirectly help Airbnb's bottom line. That may raise questions for critics, but it's mutual practice for companies to serve their own interests while also serving the public skillful.
DeBold Fusco declined to comment on that indicate, though she did reiterate that no one who uses the platform to offering refugees housing is under obligation to use it again.
Nonprofits that are closely linked to for-profit companies can run into trouble if the nonprofit direct benefits the for-profit entity, said Phil Hackney, a Academy of Pittsburgh law professor who specializes in nonprofit law. The IRS has revoked the nonprofit condition of organizations that cross that line. Examples include nonprofit credit-counseling groups that provided fiddling in the manner of services while raking in profits for related companies, and downwardly payment assistance charities for low-income home buyers that engaged in "self-serving, circular-financing arrangements."
Airbnb'southward refugee housing programme doesn't appear to fall into that category, Hackney said.
When information technology's examining whether a nonprofit is abusing its tax-exempt status (a status that's supposed to exist reserved for charitable activities), the IRS weighs the individual do good (how much a nonprofit is also helping a for-profit company'south bottom line) against the public benefit (how much it's helping society), Hackney said.
In this case, Airbnb.org appears to be doing important piece of work by providing shelter to vulnerable people, Hackney noted.
"The claiming in this space is that we are a country deeply committed to a free market place and our charity can often have on the hue of that for-profit, free market system," Hackney said. "The regulation, the discussion, the critique of this space is ever fighting back against the gratuitous market aspect of this."
'I applaud Airbnb — every bit long equally information technology works'
Response to Airbnb's endeavour to business firm Ukrainian refugees has been "overwhelming," the company says. More 21,500 people had signed up to offer their homes to refugees, including approximately 14,000 in Europe and 4,000 in the U.S. as of mid-March.
In the two weeks post-obit Airbnb's announcement that information technology would provide gratis, brusk-term housing for upwardly to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, Airbnb.org received more than $five.ii million "in small-scale-dollar, straight donations," the company said on March xv. A fundraising drive led by actors Ashton Kutcher, an early investor in Airbnb, and his wife Mila Kunis, who is Ukrainian, brought in more than $34 1000000 as of March 21. The money will be split between Airbnb.org and Flexport.org, a humanitarian aid organization.
People close to the crisis are hopeful Airbnb's solution can piece of work. Vadim Tolpeco, a Ukrainian in Vienna who wanted to assist his fellow Ukrainians find housing, institute plenty of data on how to host refugees or donate money, only nothing about how refugees could apply for shelter on the Airbnb website in early March, most a week later on Airbnb appear it would firm Ukrainian refugees.
The website mentioned the Un High Commissioner on Refugees, so Tolpeco called a UNHCR role in Budapest. But no one there could provide details, he said.
"Quite frankly, it was a kind of 'non my job' attitude that I got," Tolpeco said.
He said he was hopeful that a large company like Airbnb would ascension to the occasion and make its refugee housing plan run more smoothly.
"It's a great opportunity for Ukrainians and I applaud Airbnb — as long as information technology works," Tolpeco said.
Related: Escape from Ukraine: 'Putin's aim is to intermission u.s.a., and destroy our sense of freedom. By demolishing our homes, he wants to kill our lust for life.'
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