During some of life’s most difficult moments – whether it’s being displaced by a natural disaster or a family traveling for life-saving medical treatment – the need for flexible, temporary housing is significant.
The people most affected are often the most vulnerable: families with young children, older adults and people with disabilities. Existing emergency housing like shelters and hotel rooms play an important role during disasters, but they aren’t always suitable for families looking to stay together or bring their pets.
In addition, families around the world need to travel for medical treatment, which can be costly and stressful. Existing housing options don’t work for all families and oftentimes are a big, unexpected expense.
These are problems Airbnb.org can uniquely solve. The organization is reinventing emergency housing for people going through a crisis by providing homes that meet their individual needs. Airbnb.org’s vision is that anybody in need of emergency housing can find a free comfortable place to stay.
In 2026, Airbnb.org set out to scale its responses worldwide to help more people in need, partner with more nonprofits and governments before disaster strikes so housing support is available quickly, and expand its medical stays program in additional countries.
By executing on these goals, Airbnb.org is helping families stay together and remain close to their support networks, all from the comforts of a home. Airbnb.org’s free emergency housing support also helps expand a city’s capacity to quickly respond to crises.
Airbnb.org is demonstrating a new model for emergency housing: one that uses a global travel platform, a community of hosts, and trusted local partners to expand crisis response around the world.
The platform: By transforming a private-sector technology platform into crisis infrastructure, Airbnb.org demonstrates how travel accommodations can be mobilized for global good. Because Airbnb funds all of Airbnb.org’s operating costs, this means 100% of public donations go directly to providing emergency housing to people in need. And Airbnb makes no money off of Airbnb.org stays.
Hosts: Time and again, the Airbnb.org host community goes above and beyond to welcome guests. That can mean sharing meals with guests, providing rides, and, in some cases, building lifelong friendships.
Partners: Airbnb.org partners with trusted local nonprofits and government organizations that understand local needs, identify eligible guests, and refer them to Airbnb.org. These same partners often provide additional services, including long-term housing assistance, employment support, food security, and health care assistance, so emergency housing becomes a starting point in their recovery.
All of these key features come together to create a powerful impact.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, a chemical leak in Orange County, California forced nearly 50,000 people to evacuate. With nowhere else to go, Gloria and her 11-year-old daughter Amy spent the night on the floor of a relative’s apartment. They needed short-term housing that could accommodate Gloria, Amy and their pet cat.
Through Airbnb.org, Gloria’s family was connected to a free Airbnb listing – a private home where they could sleep, cook, do laundry and bring their cat. Gloria later said it was “like magic, to save my life.”
After wildfires ravaged parts of France in July, Airbnb.org provided over 2,500 nights of free emergency housing for displaced residents, as well as firefighters who deployed to the wildfire zones, so that rescue crews had a place to call home where they could recharge for the next day’s work.
In Madrid, where Airbnb.org launched its medical stays program earlier this year, a mother named Maria was struggling to pay for accommodation near the hospital where her son Marcos was receiving treatment three hours from home. Through Airbnb.org and its local partner Aladina Fundación, the family found free housing nearby, providing relief to Maria and a sense of normalcy to Marcos. As Marcos described it, a stay through Airbnb.org was “the closest thing to home.”
Airbnb.org has responded to nearly 150 disasters in 2026 as of Aug. 26, including wildfires in France and the U.S. and earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia, exceeding its previous record number of responses from 2025. As of Aug. 26, it has provided more than 50,000 nights of free emergency housing this year.
Airbnb.org is partnering with more nonprofits and governments before disaster strikes, so housing support is available quickly and in more places. Airbnb.org is currently working with more than 140 partners worldwide focused on disaster response, including in France, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia. Examples include Protección Civil in Mexico, Bangkok Metropolitan Authority and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
These proactive measures are helping people in need. When a warehouse fire broke out in Los Angeles in June, Airbnb.org helped hundreds of people get free emergency housing within five days, all because a local partnership was already in place with 211 LA, then expanded the housing support with an additional $1 million commitment to meet the continuing need.
For its medical stays program, Airbnb.org now has partners in 10 countries, including Mexico, Spain and Brazil. In Mexico, Airbnb.org recently expanded its commitment with a $1.1 million pledge to provide about 12,000 nights over the next few years.
Now, Airbnb.org is focused on scaling its housing support so it’s available faster, in more countries, and for more people than ever before.
