Airbnb launches nonprofit to provide stays for essential workers and refugees

Airbnb is launching a nonprofit to allow the hosts who rent out their properties on its platform to provide free and discounted stays to refugees, people affected by natural disasters, and frontline workers in the coronavirus pandemic. The new organization, called Airbnb.org, is the evolution of Airbnb’s Open Homes and Frontline stays programs.

Open Homes started in 2012, inspired by a host who opened her home to people affected by Hurricane Sandy. The company introduced the Frontline stays program earlier this year, as a way to provide first responders a place to stay — either to be closer to work or to quarantine away from their families while treating COVID-19 patients. The company says more than 100,000 hosts worldwide have provided...

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