Seattle Help.Net

Seattle help is a task based, location based, SMS hyper local community resource web application. A user can use a task based approach to finding community resources, which includes travel directions, and mapping capabilities for each resource. The browsable approach to finding and saving community resources includes a Community Wall with over 450 community rsources at the user's fingertips.  A user can also save one of over 500 resources for later use. A user can check in to a saved resource, get directions, nearby bus stops, add contacts, and add notes, translate location names, and more. Seattle help is a hybrid SMS application that allows users to find the closest community-based resource given 1. a resource keyword and 2. nearby cross streets. Seattle help uses the Socratic Open Data API from Data.Seattle.Gov for all data sources. The public transit data used in Seattle help is from the King County Open Data sets The transit information is derived from GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification), so any municipal or county transit authority's data in GTFS format could be used in this application. Also, because all data sets are open government data sets uses the SODA api, this application can be adapted very easily to other cities, states, or counties. SMS Seattlehelp.net has some great SMS features. The core functionality of the Seattlehelp.net SMS system allows a user to text in a resource name and two cross streets to find the closest community-based resource. For example: Texting  food, 9th, stewart to 206-673-5385 will return: Closest food bank is at 1531 Western Ave 5th floor. It’s only 0.0956 miles from you location! Seattlehelp.net SMS can only return information for known resource codes. The text message must be in the format above. The user must text resource code, 1st cross street, 2nd cross street. The current available resource codes are:

computer [Returns nearest public computer terminal]

food [Returns nearest food bank]

health [Returns nearest community health center]

family [Returns nearest family support center]

rest [Returns nearest public (privately owned) space]

restroom [Returns nearest public restroom] WATCH VIDEO Community Bulletin Board Seattlehelp.net has a Community Bulletin Board feature that allows a user to call in for instant updates on the last 5 bulletin board resources. Anyone can add a community resource from the application, and the resource will instantly be available to callers. WATCH VIDEO Language Translation Seattlehelp.net offers language translation for Community Wall resource descriptions and names for tasked based resources. Seattlehelp.net will translate from English to one of 38 languages! Users can easily set their language preference on first or subsequent use of the language translation feature. WATCH VIDEO Browse Resources Once you save a wall resource, it is added to Your Account. From there, you can do many things with a saved resource such as finding nearby resources, mapping the resource, or getting directions to the resource from your current location. Once you save a wall resource, it is added to Your Account. From there, you can do many things with a saved resource such as finding nearby resources, mapping the resource, or getting directions to the resource from your current location. Task-Based Resources Task-based resources work much in the same way as the resources from the Community Wall, except that they are driven by particular tasks. For instance, you can select “find a food bank” and Seattlehelp.net will give you a list of food banks closest to your current location. WATCH VIDEO About the Community Wall The Community Wall lists over 400 community based resources for easy browsing and saving. The resources on the community wall are updated in real-time and gathered from the City of Seattle.  The resources on the wall are listed in alphabetical order for easy browsing. Resources can be saved from the wall with one click. Resource descriptions can easily be translated to your preferred language. WATCH VIDEO Getting Directions to a Resource Seattlehelp.net allows you to get directions to any saved resource as well as to any resource returned from a task-based search. Directions are dynamically calculated and updated in real time. The directions are relative to your currently saved location. WATCH VIDEO Setting a new location When searching for a task-based resource, the user must tell Seattlehelp.net about their current location. Seattlehelp gives you several ways to add information about you current location. WATCH VIDEO Saved Resources and Your Account Once you save a Community Wall resource or a task-based resource, it is added to Your Account. From Your Account, you can add notes to a resource, add contacts, get directions, show a map, and more. WATCH VIDEO Bus Stops Seattlehelp.net can find the closest bus stops to any saved resource or tasked-based resource search result. In one click, the user can retrieve a list of the closest bus stops, as well as the distance of the bus stops from their current location. A user can also map a bus stop location relative to their last checked-in location. WATCH VIDEO Mapping Seattlehelp.net can map any saved resource, or resource retrieved from a task-based search. For task-based resources, the map icons correspond to the type of resource. For example, if the user is searching for food banks, the map icon will be food-related. The user can also easily map all saved resources from their account page. The source code can be downloaded from http://seattlehelp.net from the link at the bottom of the page.