HACKER Q&A
📣 throwsam

Hosting a Refugee?


With all that's going on in the world, I'm considering housing a refugee. It feels like the right thing to do. But also it's a bit commitment - letting someone in your house, for indefinite time really, quite possibly someone dealing with trauma from whatever they are running away from.

Any experiences, thoughts, alternatives that the HN community can share?

  👤 aqw137 Accepted Answer ✓
It can be temporarily:

> Because of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, people urgently need temporary emergency stays. Join Airbnb.org to help.

https://www.airbnb.org/

👤 ianpurton
> for indefinite time really

I think you can do a time limit. i.e. 1 month. Then if it's not working you at least tried.

👤 s-t-876
thank you for thinking about doing something kind.

This will largely depend on your location and host country immigration rules.

Is there someone in particular that you’ve met or know before the war that you would like to help or you are just thinking about helping refugees in general?

👤 openfuture
trustroots.org is a good way to get started. Not all refugees are from specific country, many of them are just young people who've painted themselves into a corner philosophically.
👤 aaron695
It depends on where and when you are that you can do this?

You should get support before and during, including monetary support if you decide to follow through. It will involve checks on you I'd expect to take at a month or more.

> someone dealing with trauma from whatever they are running away from.

Trained social workers should be guiding you and them. You won't be asked to house an African child soldier first up. The time won't be "indefinite"

Just do it... studies show you will gain from it. A life experience.

But if you choose not to there are plenty of volunteer programs helping refugees with the language and integrating into the community.

I would be careful of fly by night Ukraine refugee organisations that might be around at the moment. If you were to go down this path you will need to be more resilient. There are stories of people picking up and housing refugees from train stations, I'm sure most stories are made up by the media, but some seem real. This should not be happening.