GOODZILLA

Inspiration

Homeless people in Austin are disconnected from their neighbors.

What it does

Our solution has two interfaces.

The first is the GOODZILLA kiosk, a uniquely designed and easily identified kiosk that Austinites can be proud to have on their street. At the kiosk, any individual can access available goods and services. When they find what they're interested in, they click "Reserve" and receive a confirmation ticket with directions to the location.

The second interface is for individuals, businesses, NGO's and government organizations to post goods and services. In their submission we capture the location, business type, what and how many they have available and a description of the offering. The purpose of the second interface is to give people in Austin a clear way to share with people on the street and create opportunities for genuine connections.

How I built it

By socializing the idea of creating a physical space to connect those in need with the critical resources, we found individuals who were willing to contribute their time here this weekend to build a proof of concept and the beginnings of what we want to see become a reality in Austin.

Challenges we ran into

Addressing the wide array of issues homeless people in Austin face in a focused way is not easy. Taking the broad scope of issues we hope to address and focusing in on a clear solution that reaches our initial goal required us to look at the wider problem as a group and speak to people who have experience to validate our progressing solution over the weekend. Without feedback from those individuals we would have missed our mark.

The idea of a kiosk on the street created some hesitation for people initially of how it would be better than an app or website. While we strongly believe the app we've created this weekend works well for mobile or web, the kiosk is critical in creating a physical place where we can connect people on the street with those in the community who are looking to share or help.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The Team! Wow. I Could never have imagined that I would have matched this idea with so many talented, capable and passionate people, who gave up their time, energy and skills for the sake of this project. The effort from these folks speaks directly to the desire that Austin residents have to start solving this problem. We were so fortunate to have access to hack4changeatx to find each other and dive into a shared passion. The people on this team are incredible.

What I learned

We learned that homelessness is a very complex problem. Placing a kiosk in the downtown area to address those in need will not magically solve homelessness overnight. It is evident that there is a strong will from the citizens of Austin to start solving this problem. Committing a public space for the purposes of connecting with our homeless population shows a real commitment on behalf of the city towards taking action in this growing area of need.

Data! The data we generate with this project will help us improve future solutions for providers and those in need.

What's next for GOODZILLA

We are moving forward with the project. We'll be generating additional development and community support for GOODZILLA. Development will continue with frequent check-ins and monthly meetings at minimum. We are all looking forward to supporting this project on its journey into becoming a reality.

We're seeking support from: • Local Businesses • Front End Developers • Community Leadership • Industrial Designers • Artists
• Advocates