Notfairbnb.be: ‘book’ a home of the homeless

TBWA Belgium and ‘Solidarité Grands Froids’ (Solidarity in the Great Cold), an organization defending the interests of the homeless, has launched a special website to highlight the problem of those without a place to stay for the night. It’s called Notfairbnb and at first sight it looks like a typical platform to rent bed and breakfasts. The only difference? No cozy bedrooms here, but real locations on the streets where homeless people have to live, including cynical descriptions of the lodgings. By ‘booking’ one of the locations, you donate money to ‘Solidarité Grands Froids’.

Notfairbnb, a not so serious rental platform for a serious cause

On the website of Notfairbnb, people are confronted with the homeless issue in a surprising way. Under the slogan “Live where nobody wants to live”, the platform includes ads as a “fantastic industrial loft with views of the canal” or “pink mattress in the city center”. The descriptions of the places are hard and cynical: “Imagine yourself in New York, under the Brooklyn bridge.” or “Close to a very good restaurant. Maybe you can beg for leftovers.”.

Cynthia Simpson from ‘Solidarité Grands Froids’ explains: “The problem is clear. We need more resources to help the homeless. But we try to stay positive. With the warmth of the people we can help the less fortunate through the cold winter. That’s why we launched Notfairbnb. At least maybe for one time a year you can skip a night at a luxury location and help them who don’t even have a house to live in.“.

Brace yourselves, winter is here

Brussels had 2,603 homeless in 2014, but this number had doubled a year later, to some 5,450 – including approximately 670 children. But it’s not only a problem in Brussels, there are about 50,000 people without a fixed address in Belgium, who are looking up against some harsh winter months. Estimations, based on a counting conducted this winter, shows that this number will probably climb even further. The real size of the problem only becomes clear when it gets really cold. ‘Solidarité Grands Froids’ has their hands full during the winter season. Cynthia added: “Together with partner organizations like Samusocial we collect clothes, blankets, even Christmas gifts… and hand it all out to the homeless people in Brussels. Besides temporary help, we also want to offer structural support and guide them from living on the streets to living a normal life.”.

You can book a Notfairbnb starting from 5 euro on Notfairbnb.be.

More information about Solidatité Grands Froids on solidaritegrandfroid.be.