Earlier this year, devastating floods displaced more than 600,000 people in Southern Brazil. Airbnb.org partnered with the state government and local nonprofits to offer free, temporary housing to people displaced from their homes, as well as first responders and volunteers in the region.

Vanderson Chaves, a Paralympic fencer who had competed in the Tokyo and Rio Paralympic Games, was among those whose home was devastated by the floods in Porto Alegre.

Not only did Chaves lose his medals and equipment during the floods, but he also thought he had lost his shot at going to the Paris games. Airbnb.org heard of Vanderson’s story and provided him free, temporary housing in a wheelchair-accessible home near his training center so he could keep preparing for the Paris Games. He found out he made the Brazilian Paralympic team and would compete in the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 during his Airbnb.org stay.

Team:
Executive Producer: Jessie Freeman
Head of Creative: Randy Pikul
Director & CD: Alfredo Adan Roses
DP: Leo Kawabe
Editor: Renato Cabral
Color: lan Pasqualino
Sound: Carbono Sound Lab
Photographer: Carlos Macedo