Inspiration
We took inspiration from Reading To Kids, a nonprofit organization that volunteers to read with kids from immigrant communities. As volunteers are always on demand, we thought it would be great to pair young readers with elderly-folk in old-age homes, who are isolated from society but have plenty of free time!
With StoryBridge, our mission is to bridge the generational gap by tackling the isolation of the elderly while enhancing literacy for children!
What it does
We provide a third-party platform that connects the elderly population who want to seek out meaningful pastimes with young children either don't have access to books or need motivation to read. We connect the two parties by matching their availability with an interface specifically designed for the older community who may have trouble adapting to technology. The younger generation have their own separate portal with a fun points system with every meeting.
How we built it
Built on Next.js, our app integrates ReactJS for the frontend and Firebase for the backend, with version control on Github and UI design on Figma.
Challenges we ran into
It was challenging adapting to NextJS from the old ReactJS framework we were used to. At first we tried to use MongoDB, but with limited time and many mysterious errors, we switched back to Firebase, which we were more familiar with. Stepping into the shoes of these tech-unfamiliar communities, we gained a new perspective on their struggles with technology.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're proud of how quickly we developed this project from one idea to a tangible service.
What's next for Storybridge
We found a new motivation as we reached out to ReadingToKids, who were happy to collaborate with us on this project. We're looking forward to continually improve this project after the hackathon to bring real impact to the LA community.
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