CareConnect

Connecting people who can help with the right resources

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Inspiration

While making this project, I felt very inspired to help my community. Recently, I have felt a passion to contribute to people who are less fortunate than us, but I’ve had a hard time deciding which charity organization I feel would be the best for this. This is why I chose to design CareConnect—to better connect carers worldwide with the right resources.

What it does

CareConnect provides a user interface that allows users to click causes that they feel most passionate about. This includes predetermined causes, and “other” ones that users can specify in more detail. After they have done so, an AI chatbot recommends charities that they think most align with the user’s passions.

How we built it

In making this project, I used services like the React engine, and with it, next.js. This allowed our pages to look better with slicker designs. To add onto that, I opted to use Tailwind for the CSS on this app. On a more fundamental level, I design the pages using HTML, JavaScript, TypeScript, and CSS. Finally, I utilized the OpenAI API to allow an AI chatbot assistant decide the best charities for the user.

Challenges we ran into

I ran into a multitude of challenges and setbacks while designing this project, but there were 2 major ones. The first was the fact that I was using React for the first time—as someone who is not used to the React engine, it was very overwhelming to utilize for this project. This made designing the frontend a headache, and it took a long time for me to get used to it. The second problem arose with the introduction of the Chatbot. I had a hard time making sure the API key was readable by the server, and it took hours to eventually crack the case and figure out how to integrate it without exposing my API key.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am very proud of the fact that I got OpenAI to cooperate with me for the project. It took a long time for me to get the API key working, so I am ecstatic that it eventually did. Additionally, I like the frontend design, which was designed with the help of a React framework. Finally, I am extremely proud of the idea of the program—I think it’s very meaningful, and it can be used to help a lot of people like me who want to help, but are too indecisive on choosing how to help.

What we learned

I learned a lot about React and next.js. It taught me to be more patient, definitely, and I learned a good amount on how to design with both softwares efficiently. I also gained significant knowledge on the OpenAI chatbot, and how I can integrate it into my web apps.

What's next for CareConnect

I think a good place to expand for CareConnect would be adding a fully functional chatbot, that you can speak back and forth to. This will increase the app’s functionality, and allow the user to feel more confident about their choice of charity. Also, we could integrate GoogleMaps API to allow the chatbot to make location-based suggestions—a.k.a., provide charities that are more relevant in the user’s location.

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