Austin Help Finder

Inspiration

Picture someone who just lost their job, speaks Spanish at home, and needs groceries for their kids tonight. Help exists, but it’s spread across separate websites, written in jargon, and mostly in English. The need is real: USDA data shows Texas household food insecurity at 16.9% (2021-23), well above the 12.2% national average. The Census Bureau reports Texas had the highest uninsured rate in the country in 2024, at 16.7% against 8.2% nationally. We wanted a tool that gets people from “I need help” to “here’s where to go” in a few taps.

What it does

Austin Help Finder is a free, mobile-friendly website that matches people to local services. You pick a need (food, health care, jobs, housing, or learning and internet) and optionally check boxes that describe you, such as low income, no health insurance, age 60 or older, or children at home. The site then ranks results as “You likely qualify” or “Open to everyone,” with one-tap directions and a link to each organization’s website. It works in English and Español and has a large-text mode and dark mode. A banner points to 2-1-1 and 988 for people who need a live person. There are no accounts, no tracking, and nothing is stored, because everyone’s answers stay in their browser.

How we built it

We built it as a single-page website in plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with no frameworks and no backend. The matching logic is a simple, transparent rule: each service lists who it’s for, and the app compares that with the user’s answers. Services live in one data list that partners can update. We chose the Atkinson Hyperlegible font, 44px touch targets, visible keyboard focus, and reduced-motion support for accessibility. We deployed it on GitHub Pages, so hosting is free. We also added a research section built from USDA and Census data, and put together a pitch deck with state-by-state charts and screenshots.

Challenges we ran into

Keeping eligibility honest. We can’t promise someone qualifies for a program, so we used “likely qualify” wording and kept the rules simple. Accuracy of listings. Local hours and rules change, so the prototype’s listings are examples, and we tell users to check each website. Designing for trust and accessibility. We had to keep text plain, buttons large, and the flow short for people in a hurry on a phone. Staying lightweight. We skipped the map and any outside services to keep the site fast, private, and free to run. Translation quality. We wrote the Spanish text ourselves, and a native speaker should review it before wider use.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

A working, deployed website, not just a concept Fully bilingual core experience with accessibility built in from the start Privacy by design: no sign-up, no data collected A research-backed story using official USDA and Census numbers A design that can scale: other cities or states only need to swap the data list

What we learned

We learned that solving a community problem often means making existing help easier to find, not building something new. Plain language and accessibility matter as much as technical features. We also learned how much trust depends on honest wording, such as “likely qualify” instead of guarantees.

What's next for Austin Help Finder

Add a map view and more languages, such as Vietnamese, Chinese, and Arabic Partner with 211 and local nonprofits for verified, up-to-date listings Build a text-message version for people without data plans Add a plain-language AI helper to explain eligibility questions Expand to other Texas cities and to states with the highest need, such as Arkansas and Mississippi

Built With

• claude