Airbnb will put $500 million into its nonprofit arm, Airbnb.org, over the next five years to expand free temporary housing for disaster survivors and people traveling for medical care, according to AP News. CEO Brian Chesky said the company will fund it by donating 10 cents from every booking and will cover any shortfall itself. The goal is to eventually provide 1 million nights of free housing a year. The program launched formally in 2020 and focuses on short-term emergency stays.

The donation started Wednesday and won't change what guests pay or what hosts earn, according to Airbnb's announcement. Bookings canceled before check-in and bookings for experiences or services don't count toward it. Airbnb already pays the nonprofit's operating costs, so every public donation goes straight to housing, and the company says it makes no money from these stays. The program works through local nonprofits and government partners, who identify people in need. Airbnb.org then gives them credits to book a nearby home, while hosts still get paid. The new money will also help the program expand to survivors of domestic violence and exploitation.

The program has already been busy this month. In Colorado, residents under mandatory evacuation orders from the mid-October floods can get up to 28 free nights through a partnership with the state's 211 help line, according to Colorado's emergency management office. Airbnb.org has also been housing displaced residents and first responders along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Isaias, working with 211 networks in Florida and Louisiana.