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.
