Inspiration
Getting motivated to volunteer can be challenging, especially when searching for opportunities. Many organizations require phone contact only and have limited hours. Even after signing up for an event, volunteers often feel disconnected from the people they serve due to various organizations' policies. We see an opportunity to create a solution that not only simplifies volunteering but also fosters a culture of open communication.
What It Does
HelpJawn is a unified platform that connects volunteers, organizations, and those in need. Organizations can post events requiring volunteers, which also serves as a bulletin board for clients seeking services. Additionally, we aim to create a sense of community by empowering clients to share messages about past events, allowing volunteers to see their impact and encouraging them to return.
How We Built It
We used Python, Django, and SQL for the backend, and TypeScript, React, Vite, and Bootstrap for the frontend.
Challenges We Ran Into
We encountered issues related to CORS, which was an interesting learning experience. The biggest challenge was coordinating the necessary API endpoints with the frontend before building out the UI. As we are new to writing APIs, this was a valuable learning opportunity in best practices.
Accomplishments We're Proud Of
Initially, we were uncertain about how the project would progress when connecting the backend and frontend. We worked in separate teams for a while, but when we came together to integrate everything, it went surprisingly smoothly.
What We Learned
We learned about CORS, developing RESTful APIs, and how to manage scope creep.
What's Next for HelpJawn
We had to set aside many ideas, but a great next step would be to implement a notification system for volunteers to see when clients post after an event. We also want to introduce metrics for users to track their impact. On the technical side, we plan to migrate to a database on AWS S3 and host a web server on EC2.
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