Clutch

Inspiration

We were inspired by that familiar moment of panic on campus, needing an essential item like a tampon, a painkiller, or a heating pad, with no time and no convenient options in sight.

We saw a clear gap in student support. While some products are easy to find, crucial wellness and hygiene items often aren't. We built Clutch to be a community-powered safety net ensuring that access to personal care is never a barrier to any student's success and well-being.

What it does

Clutch is your one-tap safety net for campus essentials.

When you need an item, simply tap "Request." Our smart system instantly shows you the closest and most trusted options, prioritizing official drop-off spots (like the GSU Women's Center) and verified student members, who are clearly marked with a star. For other items, the app can also direct you to nearby campus shops with student-friendly prices.

Your safety is our priority. If you choose to connect with an unverified user, a safety warning appears first, outlining best practices for meeting someone new, and you must give explicit consent to proceed.

Clutch is about community, not just convenience. You can also pay it forward by donating items to verified people and organizations, strengthening the support network for everyone on campus.

How we built it

We built CLUTCH using a Next.js front end powered by React, Tailwind CSS, and Lucide React for a clean, accessible, and responsive design that feels familiar and intuitive on any device. Every element, from the animated splash screen to the community hub and map view, was designed with comfort, privacy, and speed in mind.

On the back end, we’ve set up a GitHub workflow pipeline that manages our continuous integration and future feature rollouts. Our backend dependencies (for authentication, database management, and AI-powered matching) are still in active development as we finalize our data structure and connect to verified partner APIs.

We’re building CLUTCH to scale, lightweight, secure, and community-driven so it’s not just a demo, but the foundation of a real impact network for students everywhere.

Challenges we ran into

Our challenges were mostly in back end development with proper API Calling and setting up functional servers, our servers work for limited users, but we still need to work on DUO authentication to work with safety measures.

We also hit a few technical roadblocks setting up AI workflows for matching verified users while keeping data secure. And, of course, working across design and backend pipelines in real time meant a lot of late-night debugging, syncing branches, and caffeine.

But every challenge pushed us closer to the version of CLUTCH we dreamed of, one that feels like it’s looking out for you.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We turned a real, overlooked issue into a working, scalable solution. We built a polished, intuitive UI from scratch that mirrors our mission, soft edges, accessible colors, and clear guidance built for comfort and trust.

We also designed a full student safety system: verified users, warning modals, consent-based chats, and clear safety language all written by women, for all kinds of women.

What we learned

We learned how powerful human-centered design really is. You can have the cleanest code, but if it doesn’t make people feel safe and seen, it doesn’t work.

We also learned how crucial community partnerships are for impact building with our group, not just for them. And from a dev standpoint, we leveled up our understanding of frontend-backend workflows, component logic, and scaling UX for emotional design.

What's next for Clutch

Next up, we’re integrating the backend systems, such as auth, database, and AI recommendations to make CLUTCH fully functional across all campuses.

We’re plan to partner with student wellness centers and third-space organizations to expand drop-off points and include other essentials like hygiene kits, pain relief, and comfort products.

We’re also working on getting proper funding considering this is something we plan to continuously work on after Hackathon. OUR DREAM DOES NOT STOP HERE!!

Eventually, we want to connect campuses nationwide, building a safety net that starts local but reaches everywhere.

But first. Baby steps :)