The serious situation in Ukraine has forced many of its citizens to flee the country. Over a hundred thousand have already entered Germany, and there could be more. So much so that federal and state authorities are struggling to accommodate them – even if they are spread across the country.
Faced with this situation, Arnaud Devigne, Alexandre Hernandez, Juan Bourgeois and Alexis Rodriguez, friends and co-founders of the job search engine Jobgether, decided to take action: The four entrepreneurs founded a platform that offers free housing to Ukrainian refugees. It is called EU4UA and enables anyone in Europe to house a refugee for as long as they want.
How does the platform work?
The EU4UA platform (acronym for Europe for Ukraine) connects European families offering a home with refugees looking for one. Those wishing to offer free accommodation can register using their email or Google account. The user is then asked to provide information about their accommodation: Location, capacity, etc. There is also no minimum length of stay that providers have to commit to – it can be just a few weeks.
Once the data is in the system, the accommodation is selected based on the refugees’ needs. Users receive an email with their profile and contact details so that communication can be established with the refugees (via email or Whatsapp).
The creators of this tool have made it their mission to remind volunteers of the refugees’ situation: “Please be kind and remember that you are dealing with families facing extreme conditions.” The platform can be used free of charge by both accommodation providers and refugees.