Airbnb开始做慈善了,为无家可归者提供房子
For the past five years, Airbnb has stepped in during emergencies— the earthquake in Japan, or wildfires in Canada — to pair volunteer hosts with people in need. Now, the company has launched a new platform to formalize and grow its efforts. Dubbed the “open homes platform,” it’s a homesharing site for hosts motivated by goodwill instead of profits — and for guests motivated by need rather than wanderlust.
过去五年,爱彼迎在危机中屡屡出手,不管是日本的地震还是加利福尼亚的磷火,爱彼迎都为灾难中的人们提供了相应的志愿者住户。当下,爱彼迎发起了新的平台,来规模化并壮大面临灾难所能提供的援助。这个平台叫做“开放式家庭”,是由有善心而不看重利益的住户提供的房屋共享平台,平台的使用者仅限于受难群体而非游客。
To start, the platform will connect refugees with volunteer hosts in Canada, France, Greece, and the United States. People can register on the site — even if they aren’t already hosts on Airbnb — and list their homes. Social service agency partners will vet them, and then place families for stays from a few days to a few weeks.
首先,“开放式家庭”将在加拿大、法国、希腊、美国分别联系难民和志愿者住户。即使是非爱彼迎的房屋提供者也可以在爱彼迎网站上注册房屋信息。社会服务机构会对注册房屋进行审查,然后将住户开放时间定为几天或几星期。
Ultimately, the site isn’t meant only for refugees. Site visitors can also nominate other groups of people for temporary placements, and the platform will expand to include them eventually. Airbnb has said it wants to house 100,000 displaced people within the next five years.
当然,这些住户不会一直只对难民开放。爱彼迎网站浏览者同样可以提供其他需要短期房屋群体的信息,平台也会不断扩大,最终允许非难民群体入住志愿者住户。爱彼迎称,将在未来五年计划帮助十万无家可归的人们找到志愿者住户。
Last October, Airbnb placed its first refugee in Oakland, California. It was part of a pilot program that the company ran in conjunction with the International Rescue Committee’s local Reception and Placement Center.
去年十月,爱彼迎的加利福尼亚奥克兰的项目还处于试验期,爱彼迎正和国际援救委员会(International Rescue Committee)在奥克兰的接待安置中心(Reception and Placement Center)接洽,最终成功安置了第一位难民。
To the homesharing platform’s clinically optimistic trio of founders, Airbnb is a social endeavor. Even as it has ballooned into a $31 billion company, the founders have held fast to the belief that its mission is synchronous with its business.
对爱彼迎三位冷静乐观的创始者来说,爱彼迎不但是房屋共享平台,也是推动社会进步的驱动力。尽管爱彼迎市值已达310亿美元,爱彼迎的创始人却坚信爱彼迎的社会使命不能落后于商业运作。