Ensuring sufficient housing for those displaced by a natural disaster is always a concern. While some cities have resources available to support and house temporarily those forced out of their homes, other cities struggle to ensure sufficient housing.
In seeking to help fill that gap, AirBnB has announced a trial expansion of their Open House program, which will allow users of AirBnB to pre-register their residences as being available for free to either those displaced by disaster, or those looking to assist in disaster recovery, according to TechCrunch. Starting in San Jose, which was assisted by AirBnB during flooding in 2017, the program looks to shorten the time between when the need for housing is identified, and when people willing to volunteer their housing can be found. The program expects to use both public service announcements and in-person sessions to notify people of acting as hosts in the aftermath of a disaster.
Speaking of the pilot program, San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo noted “As you might expect, as the biggest city in Silicon Valley, we believe in working in collaboration with tech. Tech has impacted and changed our economy, but we also know that there is an extraordinary opportunity in having a collaborative approach.”
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