glendale-guardian

Glendale Guardian

One helpful conversation. A safer home. A more resilient Glendale.

Glendale Guardian is a voice-first home resilience assistant built for Jewel City Hacks 5.0 - Hackathon 2026. It helps Glendale residents understand local hazards, document safety improvements, and take practical steps toward protecting their property.

Why We Built It

Preparing a home for a fire, flood, or earthquake can feel like a scavenger hunt through maps, technical reports, phone numbers, insurance forms, and government websites.

We wanted to replace that confusing process with something more human: a helpful conversation.

Glendale Guardian calls the resident and asks about their property, current safety features, and concerns. It combines that conversation with available GIS and public-record information to create a structured property resilience review.

How It Works

The experience begins like a familiar phone call. After the resident answers, Guardian asks for their name and property address. It reviews available hazard information and listens as the resident describes existing improvements.

Guardian organizes everything into four clearly labeled categories:

City and authoritative public records
Resident-reported improvements
Items that still require verification
Recommended next steps

For example, if a resident says they installed a fire-resistant roof, Guardian records that improvement while explaining that photographs, permits, receipts, or a professional inspection may still be needed to verify it.

Guardian can then recommend nearby roofers, defensible-space specialists, fire-protection companies, seismic professionals, and other relevant local services.

The resident also receives an insurance-ready packet that organizes available records, reported improvements, supporting evidence, and outstanding documentation. This gives the resident a clearer starting point when discussing mitigation work with an insurance provider.

Who It Helps

Residents

Residents receive a simple and conversational way to understand property risks. Instead of navigating several complicated systems, they get one guided review, understandable context, nearby resources, and practical next steps.

Glendale IT and Civic Teams

Guardian demonstrates how existing GIS and public-service information can become a friendly and accessible resident experience. It creates a bridge between valuable public data and the people that data is meant to serve.

Local Businesses

Roofers, defensible-space teams, fire-protection specialists, seismic professionals, and other safety-focused businesses can be discovered precisely when residents are ready to take action.

How We Built It

Glendale Guardian uses React, TypeScript, and Vite for the resident experience. ElevenLabs powers the conversational Guardian agent. Leaflet, OpenStreetMap, Glendale GIS information, and authoritative public hazard sources provide location-aware context.

Server-side APIs protect credentials and organize information before it reaches the browser. The application is deployed through Vercel.

Throughout the experience, City and public records, resident-reported information, unverified claims, and recommended actions remain clearly separated. This keeps the experience useful without presenting assumptions as verified facts.

Our Vision

Civic technology does not have to feel cold, complicated, or buried in paperwork. It can feel warm, local, empowering, and even a little playful.

Glendale Guardian does not replace inspectors, emergency services, insurers, or qualified contractors. It helps residents understand where they stand, discover what they can do next, and begin taking responsible action.

Glendale Guardian was created as an independent hackathon project for Jewel City Hacks 5.0 and is not an official City of Glendale service.