CASAFARI launches “Housing for Refugees” for everyone escaping conflict in Ukraine
CASAFARI, a company created in Portugal in 2018 and based in Bairro Alto, has just officially launched the Housing for Refugees matchmaking platform. It is a digital portal where refugees from Ukraine can search for housing, long-term and short-term shelter in Portugal now and later in several countries in Europe. Real estate agents, property investors, and private individuals can become a host. A network of volunteers, predominantly real estate agents with help of CASAFARI CRM ensure seamless matchmaking experience at large scale helping European countries to prepare for forecasted 10 million refugees.
How does the Housing for Refugees matchmaking platform work?
As reported by CASAFARI in March 2022, the platform refugees.CASAFARI.com was launched first in Portugal with more than 1,100 shelter options available across the country. Pan-European demand pushed the growth of the host database beyond 5,000 housing options across different countries before launch.
To access the shelter options of this non-profit platform, refugees escaping conflict in Ukraine to Europe can apply for housing, which is continuously validated by the network of volunteers with the help of CASAFARI CRM.
CASAFARI expects to triple the number of housing and shelter offers through the participation of more European real estate agencies, investors and private individuals, which collaborate for free and without commissions to support sustainable housing across Europe for families escaping conflict in Ukraine.
How is CASAFARI supporting its team and families from Ukraine?
This non-profit project was born within the CASAFARI team as a result of first-hand experience of the tragedy in Ukraine. As reported by CASAFARI in March 2022, of its 250 employees, 105 lived and worked in Ukraine, with some travelling to Portugal to join colleagues in Lisbon while others relocated to safer areas.
Since the conflict began, the team worked to support colleagues and their families. As well as sending over 2 tonnes of essential supplies (including medical supplies, food and warm clothing), CASAFARI worked to rehouse employees and their families in Portugal, estimating to bring around 500 people to safety.
Through the creation of a 24-hour task force, CASAFARI is also helping its employees who may leave Ukraine to cross the border and then provide accommodation, land and air transport to Portugal.
“Though we had a contingency plan in case of conflict escalation, we did not foresee this speed and scale. We had to adapt quickly, turn our office into an operations centre that ensures the safety of our team, sends support to all people in Ukraine, and is developing technological projects that can help Europe to welcome 10 million potential refugees. “Housing for refugees” project is our focus, but we also kick-starterted IT jobs board with participation of companies providing support to refugees. We want to be an impactful part of the solution to the problem number one right now”, describes Mila Suharev Co-founder, Product and Data at CASAFARI.
She points out that “supporting our staff and their families in Ukraine has been our priority to ensure they all remain safe, until they regain the peace of mind they had in their daily lives. However, it has been essential to extend support to any refugee seeking to settle in a peaceful location. This is a common, “human-to-human” goal, Mila Suharev clarifies.
What is CASAFARI and how does its real estate network operate?
CASAFARI, Europe’s only independent cross-border real estate network, connected more than 20,000 real estate professionals as reported in March 2022 through MLS functions and a complete real estate database covering all asset classes in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.
On the CASAFARI platform, custom applications such as metasearch, comparative market analysis, market analytics, and daily data feeds were developed, alongside a Portfolio Solutions division to serve the needs of institutional real estate investors.
The company has a proprietary machine learning technology and extensive data operations to automatically index, clean, classify and match duplicates of millions of property listings from thousands of websites in different languages.
Since launching in 2018, CASAFARI has won major clients from brands such as Sotheby’s International Realty, Century21, Coldwell Banker, RE/MAX franchises, JLL, Savills, Fine & Country, Engel & Voelkers, Keller Williams and important institutional investors and developers like Stoneweg, Kronos, Vanguard and Vic Properties.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Housing for Refugees platform launched by CASAFARI?
Housing for Refugees is a non-profit digital matchmaking portal launched by CASAFARI in March 2022. It allows people escaping conflict in Ukraine to search and apply for short-term and long-term shelter across Portugal and Europe. All housing matching services on the platform are provided completely free of charge and without commissions.
Who can offer accommodation on the Housing for Refugees portal?
Real estate agencies, property investors and private individuals across Europe can register as hosts without paying any fees or commissions. At launch in March 2022, this initiative brought together a database of over 1,100 shelter options in Portugal and more than 5,000 options across Europe.
How are shelter offers validated on the platform?
A network of volunteers, predominantly estate agents using CASAFARI CRM, continuously validates housing offers listed on the platform. These volunteers coordinate the matchmaking process between hosts and families in transit across Europe.
How did CASAFARI support its own employees in Ukraine?
With 105 of its 250 employees living and working in Ukraine in March 2022, CASAFARI established a 24-hour task force in Lisbon. The company dispatched over 2 tonnes of essential supplies and organised border crossings, transport and accommodation in Portugal for around 500 staff members and their family members.
What technology does CASAFARI provide to real estate professionals?
CASAFARI connects over 20,000 real estate professionals across Europe through property sourcing, comparative market analysis, market analytics, daily data feeds and CRM tools. Built on proprietary machine learning, the platform automatically indexes, cleans and deduplicates millions of property listings from thousands of sources.