Catholic Charities Palm Bch donation of place to stay 1-2 night for victims of human trafficking.

[Carol300]

I work for Catholic Charities, and personally use Airbnb when I travel.  I am not a host (I wish).

At Catholic Charities we have an anti-human trafficking program - where we help victims of human trafficking in collaboration with the PBSO. Our first need, once they are identified, is to find a safe place to stay for 1 or 2 nights until more permanent housing can be found. Right now, we are paying for low cost hotels - not a good option for these clients.

I was looking at some of the WPB listings, and wondered if some Airbnb hosts would be willing to donate (or offer at discount) their listings when available - As a charitable act (and tax deduction).

I've contacted some hosts individually and there seems to be some interest.  I think a meeting at Catholic Charities might be in order to discuss further.  Please respond to this post if you are interested, so if and when a meeting is scheduled, you are informed.

Carol Rodriguez

[Sharion0]

Hi @Carol300 I would be happy to help for one or two nights. I had a lovely couple with me a couple of weeks ago and she also works with Catholic Charities in Oregon. My home is in Santa Rosa, CA ( wine country, 40 minute drove from San Francico). Please et me know if I can assist:) 

[Carol300]

Thank you for your kindness and giving heart!  My intention was to post this message to the South Florida (Miami/Palm Beach) community group only.  Our Anti-Human Trafficking program is in Palm Beach County, FL.  I'm not sure if the Catholic Charities in your area has such a program? This is a new initiative, and South Florida is a hub for human trafficking. ( I will research and let you know if the Catholic Charities in your area have any needs you can meet - and if so, get you their contact).    

Any suggestions on how to reach hosts in the Palm Beach County area?  I sent a few individual messages to specific hosts, but had to pick dates for a potential booking I never intended to make and go through the approval process, etc.  

I got the go-ahead from our Associate Director to move ahead with scheduling a meeting in a month or so to invite local - interested Airbnb hosts to discuss this opportunity/idea.  This is certainly a safer and more cost friendly alternative than paying for seedy hotel stays.  It's a win-win, as tax deductible donation of nights would be easy for us to document for hosts.  I suppose there is some risk, but the only people who would know where the victim is staying would be our Case Manager and the victim.  

Suggestions?  How do I message PB County, Florida hosts regarding the opportunity and invite to a meeting here at our Catholic Charities offices?

Carol

[Carol300]

Sharion

The Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa has some wonderful programs that serve the homeless, about to be homeless (prevention) and immigrants.  I'm sure they would have a need for emergency housing for 1 or two nights for some clients.  They would also welcome donation of weekend (or more) stays as fundraiser/silent auction gift, if you're interested.  

Here's there website; http://www.srcharities.org/  I would encourage you to contact their Director of Advancement & Communication – Anglie Moeller.  

[Sharion0]

@Carol300, Hi Carol,

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner, I just read your messages.

In terms of reaching the Palm Springs hosts, I'm sorry I don't have any information on how to reach a certain demograhic, hopefully enough hosts will read the message you sent and word will get out this way.

I would be interested in the immigrants program more than the homeless population. Sonoma County has a really good program for the homeless to shelter them etc. but the immigrants would be of interest to me. I can also donate a couple of nights in the silent auction, that's easy enough. I'll contact the director next week and see what needs there are.

One suggestion is, that instead of the hosts in Palm Springs donating their rooms via Airbnb, maybe you could ask them if they would be interested in helping out one or two nights a month, if you have a client that needs accomodations the host can check their calendar, if they have availability they may donate their room and take it off the Airbnb site. This would work pretty well since you're not sure when you needs rooms etc.

Regards,

Sharion 

[Crystal129]

Catholic Charities has received control over all the block grants in Sonoma County for Homeless.  I am a displaced fire victim from Sonoma County. I had applied for a management job in  May 2018, and would still be living there had I gotten the position. I was MORE than qualified. Anyway, I studied their homeless program for weeks and as far as I know, they do not have a specificly designated sex trafficked victim program, BUT THEY SHOULD! I am sure that anyone in need of emergency housing would probably fall under the Domestic Violence umbrella, and CAPS and many other homeless shelters can assist. The money is there, for sure. Good Luck. By the way, I had to relocate to Salem Oregon, as I was priced out of the housing market and lost my job after the fires. I can host in emergencies here if needed. I have a feeling that AirBnB is being used under the radar for sex traffickers. I am new to hosting, but I am finding that if men try to book, and I accept, then they say they are bringing a "girlfriend", I say, "Great! Just need you to ad her as a registered guest and I only need a valid ID, she must be of legal age and ID must match her registered photo." Guess how many people canceled their bookings with me today and yesterday because of this? at least 5!! This has got to be addressed. I am an advocate and legal consultant. These criminals are dangerous and they are everywhere! To Hosts, I say, Don't be naive. Be careful. And do your due diligence to ensure guests are valid guests and not sex slaves or other unlawful victims.

[Julia410]

Good evening,

I'm in Miami, not WPB, but I'd love to help out.