Airbnb開始做慈善了，爲無家可歸者提供房子
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.
過去五年，愛彼迎在危機中屢屢出手，不管是日本的地震還是加利福尼亞的磷火，愛彼迎都爲災難中的人們提供了相應的志願者住戶。當下，愛彼迎發起了新的平臺，來規模化並壯大面臨災難所能提供的援助。這個平臺叫做“開放式家庭”，是由有善心而不看重利益的住戶提供的房屋共享平臺，平臺的使用者僅限於受難羣體而非遊客。
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，“開放式家庭”將在加拿大、法國、希臘、美國分別聯繫難民和志願者住戶。即使是非愛彼迎的房屋提供者也可以在愛彼迎網站上註冊房屋信息。社會服務機構會對註冊房屋進行審查，然後將住戶開放時間定爲幾天或幾星期。
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.
當然，這些住戶不會一直只對難民開放。愛彼迎網站瀏覽者同樣可以提供其他需要短期房屋羣體的信息，平臺也會不斷擴大，最終允許非難民羣體入住志願者住戶。愛彼迎稱，將在未來五年計劃幫助十萬無家可歸的人們找到志願者住戶。
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，愛彼迎的加利福尼亞奧克蘭的項目還處於試驗期，愛彼迎正和國際援救委員會（International Rescue Committee）在奧克蘭的接待安置中心（Reception and Placement Center）接洽，最終成功安置了第一位難民。
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.
對愛彼迎三位冷靜樂觀的創始者來說，愛彼迎不但是房屋共享平臺，也是推動社會進步的驅動力。儘管愛彼迎市值已達310億美元，愛彼迎的創始人卻堅信愛彼迎的社會使命不能落後於商業運作。
