Company
Date Published
Author
Monica Flores
Word count
1623
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

The winner of Best Hack in the FutureHack 2021 "Hack for Good" track was Community Tech, led by Monica Flores and Giesha Nuñez, who created a lightweight Mutual Aid Network app that received $5,000 to further develop its ideas. The idea for the app arose from the need for informal mutual aid networks during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Washington, D.C., where people came together to help neighbors without expecting payment or reward. Monica Flores thought there might be ways to help manage the flow of requests in a community and created an MVP version of a Mutual Aid Network online using tools such as Drupal 9, Pantheon hosting environment, and contributed modules like Flag. The app allows users to create requests, categorize them, and assign them to volunteers, with all activity being self-reported. Monica Flores used various tools including Terminal, Sublime Text editor, Google Docs, and New Relic One dashboard to build the app within a 24-hour timeframe. The project aims to make a positive impact on communities by utilizing open-source solutions and co-creating the future with available resources.