CityCare SF

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Inspiration

I’m LGBTQ+, disabled, and low income here in San Francisco, and when I first got here I knew there were a ton of resources available - food programs, shelters, clinics, legal help, all that. But trying to actually find and navigate everything was exhausting and overwhelming. Every site said something different. A lot of info was hidden or outdated. And the apps that are supposed to help, like Propel, felt too generic to be useful for what I actually needed.

I wanted to make something that would take away some of the stress from others in need to navigate the system.

What it does

CityCare SF puts the most important SF resources - food, shelter, medical care, legal help, and crisis support - all in one spot. It’s meant to feel calm and easy, not stressful or overwhelming.

It also includes simple articles that explain things in plain language, not bureaucratic speak, and it’s designed to be friendly for people who are neurodivergent, disabled, stressed, or just tired of complicated systems.

How I built it

I mainly used Lovable (for the first time!) and ChatGPT. I had a peek at Toolhouse, and would really like to utilize that in the future, but ultimately decided to keep my scope relatively small for this first attempt at vibe coding something.

Challenges I ran into

The biggest challenge was my own lack of knowledge, and also being unfortunate enough to wake up today with a migraine! Specifically, I struggled quite a bit trying to get Lovable to implement different translations into the app. I went back and forth with it, with it proudly proclaiming each time that "everything is all fixed!" when in reality, it had simply broken something else. Eventually it seemed to work out enough for a demo, so we'll call that a win! There are also issues relating to broken links and outdated info, something which, given more time, I would comb through and make sure are all up-to-date and working. The forum section is another area I ran into problems trying to implement, so left it for now with plans to flesh it out at a later date.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

To be honest, I'm just happy to see something clickable and working (at least somewhat)!

What I learned

I learned that I enjoy Lovable VERY much, and vibe coding is frustrating but also FUN!

What's next for CityCare SF

I have a bunch of ideas, but here are the main ones:

Adding an AI helper (through Toolhouse) people can simply talk to: “I need shelter tonight” or “I lost my EBT card — what do I do?” Building a fleshed out community forum where people can share updates and local knowledge. Adding more languages. Expanding categories and making the resource database even stronger. Possibly partnering with SF orgs so the info stays accurate and fresh (or passing the project off to someone who knows how!) But for now, this is a solid starting point, and I’m excited to keep going.

Built With

• lovable