Nearly 1 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
As the Ukrainian vacation rental community opens its homes to those fleeing the war, a group of hospitality podcasters has created a fundraising platform to help support European short-term rental hosts who are taking in Ukrainian refugees free of charge or at discounted rates.
The Rentals to Rescue platform had already raised more than $3,500, via its Go Fund Me page, in the first 24 hours. In addition to individual donors, some of the podcasts’ sponsors had contributed nearly $3,000 to the effort.
“It’s just really cool to see the community kind of come together in a global sense,” said Wil Slickers of Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast and the Good Morning Hospitality podcast. “Seeing the attack was heartbreaking, but there’s so much that we can do, even though we’re thousands and thousands of miles away.”
Leveraging Ukraine vacation rentals in a crisis
“The idea (for the fundraising platform) emerged on Sunday (Feb. 27) watching the news about the situation in Ukraine, and I, alongside others, felt compelled to do something,” said Brian Hamaoui, co-host of the Guest Xperience Podcast. “The one thing we have going for us is an enormous network of people in one of the most powerful sectors – vacation rentals, and the second is that vacation rentals are exactly what refugees need.”
Countries neighboring Ukraine have sheltered refugees in makeshift camps, schools, conference centers, wineries, private homes, and even the home of a Moldovan lawmaker, according to The New York Times.
Short-term rental hosts have been among those offering their homes to refugees, in some cases at no charge or at discounted rates.
However, there are costs associated with that generosity such as housekeeping, utilities, and possibly even providing water, food, and clothing to refugees. The fundraising platform is designed to raise money to help offset those costs, the founders said.
“If they’re going to give a free service, we want to power that,” Slickers said. “So that way, however long refugees need it, the hosts can keep providing it.”
Spreading the word
Guest Xperience, co-hosted by Hamaoui and Matthew Loney; Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast, and Good Morning Hospitality all have audiences in Europe who may be able to help host refugees or spread the word to other hosts about the opportunity for support in hosting Ukrainian refugees.
About 29% of Slick Talk’s listeners and 15% of Good Morning Hospitality’s listeners are in Europe, Slickers said.
Getting out the word is where Rentals to Rescue needs the most help. The organizers, which also include Thomas Kenyon, a travel product designer; are still looking for ways to funnel the money to hosts who need it. They are spreading the word through their podcasts, networking, and social media posts. They are asking the STR community to help connect them with hosts in Europe, especially in Poland, which has taken in more than half of the refugees, according to the U.N. refugee agency. If you know of an STR host who is opening their home to refugees or someone else who is helping in the effort to shelter refugees, contact Rentals to Rescue at rentalstorescue@gmail.com.
Partnering with others
Rentals to Rescue has started a Google document of STR hosts, hotels, restaurants, and others in Europe that are willing to help refugees. The group has also reached out to Airbnb in an attempt to collaborate and directly contact hosts who are taking in refugees.
Airbnb announced on Feb. 28 that they are offering free “short-term housing” to up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
“Our community can make a serious impact if we all come together,” Hamaoui said. “We don’t just need people to donate; we want to create awareness and get people to share.”
Rentals to Rescue is not a 501(c)(3) and has no overhead or administrative costs, and 100% of all money donated will go directly to acquiring short-term rentals for Ukrainian refugees, the Go Fund Me page states.
Vlad Gurovich, a board member with Oahu Short-Term Rental Alliance, was born in Ukraine and left the country when he was 15 years old. He no longer has any friends or family there.
“I spent the first 15 years of my life in Ukraine and did not expect the range of emotions that I felt when this nightmare began last Wednesday,” Gurovich said. “My wife is from Russia. I have Russian-speaking friends in the States who are from all over the post-Soviet space, and we are all horrified.”
He commended Rentals to Rescue for the fundraising effort and said he’d like to see partnerships with a larger organization that is focusing on helping refugees like some of those featured on the Stand for Ukraine website.
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