Help on the Way

Inspiration

We were inspired to develop this app by our own experiences of reaching out to other like minded individuals when we encountered tough times.

What it does

Help on the Way (H.O.W.) is aimed at veterans who are going through the Veterans Treatment Court system. The goal of H.O.W. is to provide a group support system for those individuals. Veterans can create and join groups where they can chat with other veterans to help keep them accountable to adhering to the court's rigid guidelines.

How I built it

We used JScript/HTML/CSS with Bootstrap, React and Express frameworks for the front end, and MongoDB with Node for the backend. Deployed to heroku servers. And love.

Challenges I ran into

We ran into initial issues finding an app that didn't already exist. We wanted to address a real world issue and fill an existing gap. As far as developing goes, we created our own backend server and API with endpoints that we could hit to form groups/users.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Creating a backend server, constructing an API, managing users to particular groups without overlap, installing a database, using react's MVC system, and creating something useful that will serve a real world purpose.

What I learned

We learned a lot about veterans affairs and grew to develop an even deeper appreciation for the veterans in our lives and country.

What's next for Help on the Way

Our next step is to build a second side to the app that connects veterans with legal and social workers who can further help guide them toward resources that will help the veteran along their journey.

Please view our README file in the github repo. Thanks for looking!