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HN: Can Anyone Help with My Refugee Crisis Business Idea?
As I'm sure many of you are aware, Europe is currently 'gripped' in what is reported to be a Refugee 'crisis'. Apparently, since the beginning of the Syrian war, there have been some 3 million people who have fled their country to escape war. People are being driven to extraordinarily dangerous actions, just to save their families. So, I have an idea, it's superbly fledgling, and really I don't have any idea where to begin with it, never mind the skill set currently to implement it - hence why I'm reaching out to the HN community. Reporters go to great lengths to describe how many of the refugees are connected through their smartphones. So I figured, why not create an app, where individuals in communities refugees are congregating, who have room in their homes, could offer shelter and warmth to refugee families for a few nights could open their doors and be paired with somewhere people could stay. A mixture of coachsurfing and airbnb. The expectation would not be for someone to offer a house and 'adopt a family' - merely to show someone warmth and welcoming vibes. This is not a solution to the problem of war. Nor is it intended to be a permanent resolution to refugee families problems - it is merely an opportunity to help them feel human once again - to feel safe for a couple of nights and welcome. Often people such as refugees are left to feel sub-human, this would be a chance to integrate them. I lay no claim to this idea - if someone wishes to take the ball and run with it - fine. This is a problem bigger than any one person. It certainly would not be an idea run for profit however. If you can help - reply here, or if you would like to be involved, drop an email to jmcclafe@gmail.com (not a real name - just an email set up for the sake of this project) Help: - First, thoughts on the business - am I just being completely stupid? - How to navigate safety concerns about housing strangers? - How to develop an app? - Any help advertising/funding?
- gloves 11y agoThe idea could also be extended to domestic homeless etc too
- Mz 11y agoYears ago, I took a college class on Homelessness and Public Policy and I am currently homeless. A high percentage of homeless people have either serious medical or mental health problems. Many of them (not I) self medicate with alcohol and other drugs, sometimes in preference to the doctor prescribed drugs they are supposed to be on and often with good reason -- I am perfectly okay with them preferring to take drugs with side effects they prefer. But the reality is that many of them are just not stable or healthy and they are potentially dangerous and potentially vulnerable. Tossing them in with a total stranger for a free night's stay has all kinds of disaster written all over it. Homeless individuals are typically people with serious personal problems for which there are no quick fixes. There are many things that can help reduce homelessness. Most of them will not be directed at "helping the homeless" per se. Working on making sure there is sufficient affordable housing is one. Of course, that doesn't feel heroic, but the really good solutions usually do not involve heroics. People looking for heroics are usually looking for an ego boost more than a real solution. It rarely leads to good solutions.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- gloves 11y agoHi Mz, Thank you for replying. I take your points on board and share your reservations. However, I certainly wouldn't like to tar every one with the same brush, regardless of their state of home ownership. Although I don't know your personal situation, I would hope you wouldn't wish to inflict harm on someone who opened their home to you. Hopefully this is an example of how the app could work successfully. But you are right, I equally would not wish to be responsible for anyone abusing the app or eachother. The aim of the app is not to be a hero - it is simply a way to show human emotion to those members of society who are often relegated to sub-human terms and stereotypes. It could be a route to understanding both eachother, and uncovering the root causes of some people's homelessness. As stated in the original description however, the app does treat the symptoms, not the cause, and would therefore not be considered a solution, just temporary respite. I understand and share your concern, perhaps this would be enough to stop the homeless issue being one I could focus on to begin with.
- Mz 11y agoI am a woman on the street. Most homeless people are male (by a very wide margin). I have had people offer me a place to stay, some of them were men who were clearly expecting me to earn my keep on my back. I turned them down. I am mentioning that only to point out that you are guilty of the prejudice you wish to eradicate: You hope I would not wish to harm someone who opened their home to me. You fail to acknowledge the other half of the equation that I mentioned above: That the person offering me a place to stay might desire to take advantage of me in some way and thereby harm me. Your personal prejudice is a significant obstacle to making this viable. It would bias design towards protecting the people opening their home while giving short shrift to the people needing a temporary place to stay. If you cannot overcome that bias and look very objectively at the problem space of protecting all involved parties, I recommend you abandon the idea, whether for refugees or for anyone else.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
- prostoalex 11y agohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/airbnb-for-refugees-germany_55e740ede4b0aec9f3559bee http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/airbnb-for-refugees-germ... http://www.france24.com/en/20150908-france-airbnb-migrants-calm-match-refugees-hosts http://www.france24.com/en/20150908-france-airbnb-migrants-c... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/01/berlin-group-behind-airbnb-for-refugees-overwhelmed-by-offers-of-help http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/01/berlin-group-be...
- djb_hackernews 11y agoCouchsurfing seems like the perfect platform for this if there is even such a demand...
- Mz 11y agoHow to navigate safety concerns about housing strangers? You would need to work hard on this piece and related social questions to make something like this at all viable. Refugees from a different culture, possibly suffering post traumatic stress, are a population likely to be both vulnerable and potentially dangerous. Furthermore, simply being from a very different cultural background can significantly promote general misunderstanding.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- lsiebert 11y agoI would partner with an existing NGO, one big enough that it has a legal department, and sell them on the idea as a way to free up people by helping individuals and communities self organize, thus better utilizing funds to actually support refugees. In aggregate, there will always be bad behavior, and you want to protect your personal finances, and the NGO will have domain knowledge that you most likely lack and can tell you how to do better. Don't do it for the money, do it for the feels, and the project on your resume.
- gloves 11y agoThank you everyone for your comments, it's really appreciated! In particular, thanks to prostoalex - it's great to see this type of thing already exists and people have beaten me to the punch of actually doing something about this :)
- BjoernKW 11y agoWhile this is certainly a well-intentioned idea it's problematic for several reasons (I'm not saying it's impossible but anyone trying address this issue should be aware about these problems): There have been high-profile abuse cases with Airbnb already and Airbnb is a service mostly used by rather well-off people from developed nations with some sort of profile and identity record. Authorities are struggling already with ascertaining the nationality of many refugees, let alone their identity. The by far largest share of refugees certainly won't be coming to Europe for committing crimes but it's unavoidable that there'll be a fair share of strange people, criminals and terrorists, too. If you happen to unknowingly accommodate one of those who'll be liable for potential damages to your property? If the person commits a crime you're effectively hiding a criminal. So, your good intentions good ultimately even might have you end up in person. What I could imagine is requiring participants in such a service to at least have some sort of official documents before being allowed to apply. That doesn't really solve the underlying problem, however, which is that there currently is no sufficient infrastructure for registering and accommodating all those problem.