OPEN HOMES PROGRAM

Susan1028
Level 10
Oregon, US

OPEN HOMES PROGRAM

I'm interested in building Community and a good discussion around the Air BnB Open Homes Program. 

 

My heart goes out to those who are experiencing extreme crisis, I want to help, and all of us will be faced with situations like this sooner or later. I beleive in tithing at least 10% of my prosperity and "paying forward" the many kindnesses I've been shown in life.  I'm hundreds of miles from the California fire and coastal hurricane zones, but there are other ways I could donate a percentage of my bookings other than fund-raiser gift certificates.

 

There are 3 categories of 'Open Homes' guest candidates:

1- Disaster relief - fires, hurricaines, etc

2- Medical relief - for folks getting treatment locally or those in need of rest and respite

3- Refugee support- to help folks moving to a new area

 

I'd love to hear from folks who have already opened thier homes through this program and learn:

a- What worked well

b- Words of wisdom/suggestions

c- How Air BnB facilitated the connections and supported you

 

Air BnB information pages on this subject are brief, and indicate:

a- all seeking Open Homes bookings must register as members and be vetted like any other guest

b- initial contact will be through a not-for-profit or officially related organization (which also needs to register)

c- in the case of the CA fires etc., the individuals may not be represented by an organization, but the guest's ID/membership info should confirm residency in one of the evacuated areas or that they are disaster relief staff. 

 

The feedback I'm seeing in the community is about glitches...that individuals are contacting hosts, not agency liasons, and there are scammers trying to take advantage.  Some of us screen our guests anyway, so we'd likley be able to weed those out.  There are also situations I know I'm not qualified to take on without working in partnership with qualified personnel.  Would we be penalized for declining scammers and situations beyond our scope according to normal hosting requirements?

 

Interested in building community around this so we can follow our hearts with confidence...

 

Thank you in advance for your insight and wisdom.

 

 

 

 

 

11 Replies 11
Pete28
Level 10
Seattle, WA

From the other threads on this it sounds like you'd turn on request to book, set a limit on how many days stay, and ask for id which shows an address in the impacted area.

 

As ever, Airbnb gets a PR win but the community gets to figure out how to make it work. 

Susan1028
Level 10
Oregon, US

You're my only reply Pete, so either I've missed out on other relevant threads via searching these forums, or it's not important to enough folks to warrant the discussion.

 

Thank you for your response.

Ava30
Level 10
Eureka, CA

Wow...

 

I saw, I replied, and I'm so glad I trusted my gut and withdrew from Open Homes 2 hours after I listed there.

 

That's one too many Open Homes fraud horror stories and major ABB host support gaffes.  Major trust breaker.

 

It's a shame the program isnt better managed.  It could be truly great with some solid support structure, accountability, and safety planning built in.

 

I ended up creating my own screening system and asked for personal referrals from my FB community.  So far I've donated 7 days to folks grateful for a place to get grounded and regroup without a problem. Personal referrals bring with them a relationship history and accountability. That's what's missing from the ABB "free for all" "open homes" has currently become.

 

I'd really lo ve to read some positive stories, so I'm going to search the archives.

 

 

How did you unregister or unlist your space? For the life of me, I can't see where that happens on the website and there's no help/support through ABB to do it. 

 

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

I'm afraid I do not have confidence that any such program managed by airbnb would be able to properly screen potential guests.

Agreed.

Kate897
Level 1
Decatur, GA

I am currently enrolled in this program and am starting to question my choice. We have hosted two families evacuated from FL and SC during the latest hurricane. Both requests were legit. But since then, we've gotten some crazy requests - people wanting to stay for 2-3 weeks while they find jobs here now.  We consider ourselves very generous and our guest studio has been used by friends and acquaintances at no or very reduced charge of many years. We've been superhosts just this past year with ABB. But now I want to remove our listing from Open Homes. I can't figure out how to do it. The multiple requests coming in now are too much to manage. And is it only coincidence that we have not booked a paying guests since joining Open Homes? We are usually booked 75% of the time and our paid bookings are way down. I'm suspicious.

Susan1028
Level 10
Oregon, US

@Kate897

 

I delisted from open homes in the booking settings by unclicking the box for it.  Hope this helps.

 

 

How does a potential guest in need access Open Homes. I can't find any information on the airbnb site that facilitates making a booking. A family member needs a place to stay near their newborn who was just airlifted to Children's Hospital.  How do they find an Open Home and contact the host?

I am an Airbnb Host and registered with Open Homes but I have no idea how this works, can't find any info on it and understandably have never had a request. 

Appreciate any support you can offer. The family needs a place asap.

Thanks

@Peggy2 How do I book an Open Homes stay? - Airbnb Help Center

Open homes are only available for disaster relief or refugees. 

I would ask the hospital what's available: organizations like Ronald McDonald house are typically available and the staff can connect your family member with them directly. 

Good luck! I hope it works out for them.