Nicholas Moreles

We came into HackDFW intending to create a platform to help those in the most difficult situations -- such as drug/alcohol addicts, ex-convicts, and the chronically depressed. After some brainstorming, we realized we could have the greatest impact on these people's lives by helping to ensure they have a solid support network. We sought to create a mentor matching platform that at the same time respected the anonymity of those in sensitive situations. We created a RESTful back-end -- mindful to ensure we never asked for or stored too much information -- that could work with both a web and Android app on the front-end.

We require only a minimal amount of information and answers to a couple of general questions before we match someone in need with three mentors in their area that they can communicate with anonymously on our real-time chat platform (implementation pending). We encourage people to make meaningful connections with their algorithmically chosen mentors, but we do understand that not everyone is a great match, so if that is ever the case, we are glad to offer more mentor suggestions.

Our hope is that people will use our app to conveniently and discretely find the support they need to make it through tough times. In the future, we hope to add functionality that would allow for immediate help from one of the many non-profit support agencies nationwide, in case someone needs to talk to someone right now.

We hope our tech demo gets our vision across for what could be possible with more time. By partnering with local non-profit organizations and following a careful roll-out plan, we believe Teal Cricket has the potential to make a huge impact in the lives' of people in need nationwide.

Android App GitHub: https://github.com/FronTexas/Mentorize (Demo available in person)