Disaster Relief Connection

Connect with those in need or offer assistance in times of crisis.

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Inspiration

In the wake of the recent devastation caused by the Los Angeles wildfires, we noticed how some areas were completely destroyed while nearby communities remained untouched. This inspired us to create a way to connect those in affected areas with neighbors in unaffected regions who are willing to help.

What It Does

Our platform connects people in need with those willing to help in the aftermath of natural disasters. Users can sign up to request assistance or offer support, ensuring that those affected receive the help they need from unaffected individuals. Assistance may include food, child care, shelter, clothing, transportation, and more.

After signing up, those offering help will receive a list of matched individuals and can choose someone to assist. Once a selection is made, they will gain access to the person's contact information to coordinate support directly. After a person who needs assistance is matched, they will be removed from the list, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to receive help.

How we built it

We created our site using Typescript, React, and Firebase. We used React and Typescript to create the frontend design of the website, and we used Firebase to store user login information.

Challenges we ran into

With no prior backend development experience, our team faced challenges setting up Firebase for account authentication. We initially planned to include a user-to-user chat feature but had to abandon it due to technical difficulties. Once we got Firebase authentication working, we encountered limitations on the number of daily users and logins, preventing us from fully testing the feature after reaching the cap.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of ourselves for being able to put together a website that has a relatively nice UI, and has some integration of frontend and backend. Generally we are proud of completing our second project, which was an improvement from our first hackathon project last year.

What we learned

Through this project, we gained valuable experience with Firebase, user authentication, and integrating frontend and backend development.

What's Next for Disaster Relief Connection

In the future, we aim to implement a chat feature for matched users to communicate directly. Additionally, we plan to enhance security measures to protect user data and verify user identities. One key precaution will be encrypting sensitive information to ensure privacy. To confirm users are who they claim to be, we will explore verification methods such as ID checks.

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