BACKGROUND
Airbnb has donated accommodations across the country for use by Ukrainian temporary residents and their dependents who are in urgent need of temporary housing.
In order to ensure effective use of these resources, this guidance:
a) Provides criteria regarding the selection of clients who can benefit from this temporary accommodation;
b) Clarifies which services and activities related to facilitating client access to the Airbnb accommodations are eligible expenses under the Settlement Program’s Terms and Conditions (Ts&Cs).
This guidance does not set a precedence for enhanced housing-related services under the Settlement Program and is only intended for urgent cases where all other options have been exhausted.
GUIDANCE
Eligibility Criteria
This guidance is only applicable to Ukrainian temporary residents and their dependents who meet the following eligibility criteria, and will be in effect until the Airbnb donation has been fully-expended.
This option may only be used:
• Within the first 14 days of arrival in locations where there are no federally-funded hotels offered or available, and the client does not have any other accommodation options, apart from local shelters; or
• In cases where a client’s initial 14-day stay in a federally-funded hotel is ending with no subsequent housing options identified, apart from local shelters. Federally-funded hotels should be prioritized for use during the first 14 days of arrival whenever possible.
Eligible Activities
The eligible activities listed below are only applicable to be funded under the Settlement Program and not the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP).
The following activities/services are eligible costs under the Settlement Ts&Cs:
• Determination of a client’s housing needs (under Needs and Assets Assessment and Referral Services);
• If the client demonstrates an urgent need for accommodation based on the eligibility criteria above, the referral of clients to the centralized hub that is responsible for managing the Airbnb donations (under Needs and Assets Assessment and Referral Services);
• Information about temporary housing, including information about the difference between accessing Airbnb versus a hotel (under Information & Orientation);
• Informal support to clients through the use of volunteers for matching and other activities to support clients in accessing these donated accommodations (under Community Connections). The following activities/services are not eligible costs under the Settlement Ts&Cs:
• Centralized interaction of Recipients with Airbnb and management of the donations;
• Client transportation to Airbnb;
• Home visit upon check in or check out from Airbnb.