Housing Savannah receives Airbnb grant
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Housing Savannah is proud to announce a $20,000 grant from the Airbnb Community Fund, a program dedicated to strengthening communities around the world. This funding reinforces Airbnb's commitment to addressing housing affordability and supporting local organizations working to make a difference.
A portion of this generous contribution will directly support the 2025 Housing Summit, scheduled for April 9th, 2025, and held in the Eckburg Auditorium on the Savannah Technical College campus, where Airbnb will be recognized as the Presenting Sponsor. This pivotal event will convene key stakeholders—community leaders, policymakers, andhousing advocates—for impactful discussions on critical issues such as increasing housing supply, expanding affordable housing, promoting sustainability, and advancing equitable development in Savannah.
The remaining grant funds will support another of Housing Savannah's initiatives, which is focused on building the pipeline of small-scale and incremental developers, aimed at expanding affordable housing opportunities throughout the region.
'This generous contribution from the Airbnb Community Fund will significantly enhance our ability to engage the community and drive meaningful discussions on the future of housing in the greater-Savannah area,' said Laura Lane McKinnon, Housing Savannah's Executive Director. 'We are grateful for Airbnb's partnership as we continue working toward a community where everyone has access to safe, stable, and affordable housing.'
'The Savannah Host Club is proud to nominate and support Housing Savannah, because of the vital role the organization plays in strengthening our community by improving access to safe, affordable housing,' said Marquii Jacobs, Savannah Host Club Leader. 'We hope to amplify their impact and create more opportunities for Airbnb hosts to give back to the community.'
Launched in 2020, the Airbnb Community Fund is a $100 million initiative to directly support local communities and the people who live there. Each year, Airbnb donates to organizations that are supporting and strengthening communities around the world, including donations made in partnership with local hosts in many of these communities. Members of 85 local Host Clubs, which are led by volunteer hosts, nominated local, community-based non-profit organizations making a difference in their communities.This year's Community Fund grants were directed to organizations focused on three issue areas identified by the Airbnb Host Advisory Board as important to the global host community: economic empowerment, environmental sustainability, and ending abuse and exploitation.
The 2025 Housing Summit will bring together expert speakers, dynamic panel discussions, and cutting-edge housing solutions to address the challenges facing Savannah and beyond. Airbnb's generous sponsorship amplifies the event's impact—fostering deeper community engagement, driving innovative solutions, and expanding the conversation on the future of housing.
For more information about the 2025 Housing Summit, including program, speaker, and registration details, click here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Aldermen advance measure allowing Airbnb bans in Chicago precincts
Aldermen took a step Wednesday toward giving themselves the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals from opening in their wards. The City Council's License and Consumer Protection Committee advanced the ordinance that would allow aldermen to unilaterally block new short-term rentals one precinct at a time. It could now face a final vote by all aldermen as soon as next week. Sponsor Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, called the city's current ordinance made a decade ago 'extremely sloppy.' The existing law allows short-term rentals to be blocked only when 25% of a precinct's registered voters sign a petition calling for it. 'This is the only ordinance written in the city of Chicago where, when there is a problem in the industry, the onus is put on residents to fix it,' Napolitano said. The Far Northwest Side alderman's ordinance seeks to reverse that, allowing aldermen to block short-term rentals in a precinct on their own. It would then give companies the chance to overturn the ban by collecting signatures from 10% of the precinct's voters. Most aldermen in attendance backed the ordinance in a voice vote. Several cited issues in their ward with disruptive parties at short-term rentals, a problem Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said is 'on steroids' in dense downtown high rises. 'The guests are taking over common areas, pool decks, lobbies, fitness rooms,' he said. 'With the late night parties and noise complaints, et cetera, God help you if you own a condo next to one of these nightly rental units.' Napolitano argued the ordinance will not hurt short-term rental companies, but instead simply gives aldermen a tool to advocate for residents when issues arise. But Airbnb is strongly opposed to the proposal. 'Alderman Napolitano's ordinance amendment is an over-broad and misguided violation of Chicagoans' property rights, which would punish responsible homeowners and local businesses who rely on the income from travel on short-term rentals — especially in neighborhoods outside of Chicago's traditional tourism hubs,' Airbnb spokesperson Jonathan Buckner said in a statement Wednesday. Mayor Brandon Johnson is continuing to not take a side on the issue. Asked where he stood on the ordinance at a Wednesday morning news conference, he said he wanted to 'continue to ensure that we are building a safe, affordable city.' 'This particular measure, quite frankly, I'll have to look into a little bit deeper,' Johnson said. 'But I know that there are a number of alders who mean well and are trying to show up for their particular pocket of the city.' Several aldermen noted the absence of staff from Johnson's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, adding that they wished someone could answer questions about how bans could affect tax revenue. Alds. Matt O'Shea, 19th, and Bill Conway, 34th, voted against the measure, with O'Shea noting taxes on the rentals sent around $4 million to fight domestic violence. 'Have we thought of how we are going to replace that?' O'Shea asked. 'It's been my experience working with Airbnb that when a problem is identified, it's addressed.' Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, used the city's current process requiring residents' signatures to ban short-term rentals from every precinct in his Southwest Side ward. The whole-ward ban took 12,000 signatures and seven years to complete, he said. The ward is '95% single family dwellings,' and short-term rentals 'would have an adverse impact on our quality of life,' Quinn said. Asked what he thinks of Airbnb's argument that the ban is similar to historic racist efforts to keep Black and Latino people out of certain neighborhoods, Quinn called it a 'desperate statement from a company who got exactly what they wanted' when the original ordinance passed. 'I'm not saying that Airbnb isn't good in some parts of the city,' he said. 'It's just not good in the Bungalow Belt, and I have 12,000 signatures that would suggest that.' Aldermen also Wednesday advanced a measure to crack down on illegal pedicabs with potential impoundments.


Chicago Tribune
9 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Aldermen advance measure allowing Airbnb bans in Chicago precincts
Aldermen took a step Wednesday toward giving themselves the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals from opening in their wards. The City Council's License and Consumer Protection Committee advanced the ordinance that would allow aldermen to unilaterally block new short-term rentals one precinct at a time. It could now face a final vote by all aldermen as soon as next week. Sponsor Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, called the city's current ordinance made a decade ago 'extremely sloppy.' The existing law allows short-term rentals to be blocked only when 25% of a precinct's registered voters sign a petition calling for it. 'This is the only ordinance written in the city of Chicago where, when there is a problem in the industry, the onus is put on residents to fix it,' Napolitano said. The Far Northwest Side alderman's ordinance seeks to reverse that, allowing aldermen to block short-term rentals in a precinct on their own. It would then give companies the chance to overturn the ban by collecting signatures from 10% of the precinct's voters. Most aldermen in attendance backed the ordinance in a voice vote. Several cited issues in their ward with disruptive parties at short-term rentals, a problem Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, said is 'on steroids' in dense downtown high rises. 'The guests are taking over common areas, pool decks, lobbies, fitness rooms,' he said. 'With the late night parties and noise complaints, et cetera, God help you if you own a condo next to one of these nightly rental units.' Napolitano argued the ordinance will not hurt short-term rental companies, but instead simply gives aldermen a tool to advocate for residents when issues arise. But Airbnb is strongly opposed to the proposal. 'Alderman Napolitano's ordinance amendment is an over-broad and misguided violation of Chicagoans' property rights, which would punish responsible homeowners and local businesses who rely on the income from travel on short-term rentals — especially in neighborhoods outside of Chicago's traditional tourism hubs,' Airbnb spokesperson Jonathan Buckner said in a statement Wednesday. Mayor Brandon Johnson is continuing to not take a side on the issue. Asked where he stood on the ordinance at a Wednesday morning news conference, he said he wanted to 'continue to ensure that we are building a safe, affordable city.' 'This particular measure, quite frankly, I'll have to look into a little bit deeper,' Johnson said. 'But I know that there are a number of alders who mean well and are trying to show up for their particular pocket of the city.' Several aldermen noted the absence of staff from Johnson's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, adding that they wished someone could answer questions about how bans could affect tax revenue. Alds. Matt O'Shea, 19th, and Bill Conway, 34th, voted against the measure, with O'Shea noting taxes on the rentals sent around $4 million to fight domestic violence. 'Have we thought of how we are going to replace that?' O'Shea asked. 'It's been my experience working with Airbnb that when a problem is identified, it's addressed.' Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, used the city's current process requiring residents' signatures to ban short-term rentals from every precinct in his Southwest Side ward. The whole-ward ban took 12,000 signatures and seven years to complete, he said. The ward is '95% single family dwellings,' and short-term rentals 'would have an adverse impact on our quality of life,' Quinn said. Asked what he thinks of Airbnb's argument that the ban is similar to historic racist efforts to keep Black and Latino people out of certain neighborhoods, Quinn called it a 'desperate statement from a company who got exactly what they wanted' when the original ordinance passed. 'I'm not saying that Airbnb isn't good in some parts of the city,' he said. 'It's just not good in the Bungalow Belt, and I have 12,000 signatures that would suggest that.' Aldermen also Wednesday advanced a measure to crack down on illegal pedicabs with potential impoundments.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Home prices tick up in May as mortgage applications rise higher
Shelter costs rose by 0.3% month-over-month from April to May and 3.9% annually, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading released Wednesday morning. Yahoo Finance housing reporter Claire Boston comes on Wealth to talk more about trends in home prices, housing demand and mortgage applications, and renters in the suburbs. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here. Shelter inflation rose three tenths of a percent in May, remaining stubborn even as inflation largely slowed in the past month with just a one tenth of a percent increase. Year-over-year, housing costs rising 3.9% compared to 2.4% for the full index. Here to break down the latest report, we've got Yahoo Finance senior housing reporter, Claire Boston. Claire, just take me into how you're reading through these figures. Yeah, Brad. So once again, we have this world where shelter is really the main driver of inflation these days in what was otherwise a fairly benign report. So, what I'm looking at is owners' equivalent rent. That is basically the homeowner's housing cost. That was up three tenths of a percentage point, and then rents grew two tenths of a percentage point month over month. And you know, you can really see the impact of these higher housing costs when you look at that year over year figure. You know, as you mentioned, across the board prices are up 2.4%, but then shelter is up 3.9%. The only place that we really saw any relief in May was in that away from home housing, so that's your hotels, your Airbnb, and that was down by about a tenth of a point. So, you know, really no good news here if you are a renter or homeowner, your costs are still going up. We also got the latest mortgage application data this morning. How is housing demand holding up right now? Yeah, I mean, it's super interesting because housing is still really expensive, but we are starting to see mortgage applications improve a little bit. They were up 12.5% across the board this week. That includes both refies and purchases. Purchases were up about 10% and refies were up 15%. And what I think is interesting here is mortgage rates have been holding pretty steady. So, what we think is going on here is just, you know, some buyers finally responding to the fact that we have more inventory on the market, they have more to choose from. You know, it's that peak summer home buying season. You know, we'll have to see if this holds, though. And finally, this one hit the inbox too. A recent report from Point2 Homes found that renters actually outnumber owners in an increasing number of suburbs here. What's behind this trend? Yeah, they they found, I think, 203 metro areas where there are now more suburban renters versus homeowners. And a lot of what is going on here is this really tough buy versus rent math. With those 7% mortgage rates, a lot of people are looking at what they can afford to buy versus what they can afford to rent, seeing they could rent a much bigger house and they're going that way. And you know, we often think of renters as kind of those city people and then you buy and you move to the suburbs. But people are looking at that number and they're saying, hey, you know what? I'm going to move to the suburbs, I want that extra space, but I'll keep renting. And when you look at where this is happening, it's a lot in the Sunbelt markets, those cities in Texas, places where builders have been really active, and builders have actually just been building homes now with the intent of renting them out to those consumers. Claire, great to have you here with us today. Thank you. Sign in to access your portfolio