Inspiration
According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the number of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles has increased 5.7% between 2015 and 2016, to a total of 46,874 people. In a city, and a country, with so much wealth, it is shocking that homelessness continues to rise in LA. LAHSA discussed current solutions to homelessness, describing how "homelessness responds to resources". Hot Meals wants to be that resource.
What it does
Hot Meals is a platform to connect the homeless with food establishments that are willing to feed them. Restaurants who sign up are able to: 1) Sponsor X amount of meals at their restaurant per day (if they desire). 2) Ask their customers if they want to round their bill up to the nearest dollar. This money is then applied towards meals for the homeless, which they can redeem on the Hot Meals website.
This model is mutually beneficial to the homeless and restaurant owners because the money that a specific restaurant makes from rounding up the bills at their restaurant is money that can be redeemed only at that restaurant. The homeless person receiving the meal is able to become an additional customer that is paid for by that restaurant’s previous customers.
Additionally, Hot Meals uses Microsoft’s photo recognition to verify users identity. This is beneficial because it: 1) Ensures that a user is not abusing the free meals given out. 2) Provides the ability to withhold vouchers from users who cause problems in restaurants.
How its Built
We built a webpage using Javascript, Node.js, HTML, Angular, and Bootstrap. We created the splash screen first, then split up to work individually to add features such as the ability to take photos on the website, create different screens within the app, create our Firebase database, and integrate Google maps. Additionally, we worked on a design for the website that was easy for users to use and aesthetically pleasing.
Challenges
1) Merge conflicts: We used Git to edit the same few files between 4 people, which proved to be very difficult at times. We had countless merge conflicts, but definitely became more familiar with Git as a result. 2) Very few people in our group had much experience with Angular and Javascript, so the learning curve of doing webwork was a big learning curve. Additionally, we learned that when you decide to use Angular, you have to fully commit, otherwise it’s a pain to work with and integrate with other languages.
Accomplishments
1) We were really proud of our splash page and the UI we were able to develop 2) Being able to make so many components work together. 3) Learning Javascript and Angular
What's next for Hot Meals
1) Monetary donations 2) Implementing the Restaurant Owner interface 3) Kiosks in malls/densely populated areas that people can find restaurants near.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.