Little Help Book is a COVID Recovery resource discovery app. We are working with White Bird and local agencies to make it easier for at-risk populations to find the resources they need.
See the Democracy Lab listing for more info. You can invite others using this link.
There is a Slack channel for this project you can use to communicate with project members.
We also hang out at The Progress Bar and Grill (a discord server) from time to time.
This is an Open Eugene project and part of the Code for America network. If you would like to support this project you can become a Backer or a Sponsor at Open Collective.
The primary ways to contribute are:
- Data wrangler. Learn to write and publish in a data format that can be shared in public information network. The Human Services Data Specification (HSDS) allows us to format information in a flexible way and export it as CSVs and a JSON datapackage that can be used by other organizations that maintain resource directories in Lane County.
- Airtable experts. An easy-to-use Airtable base organized to be HSDS compliant, we can maintain this base used by White Bird, and copy and sync and share it with other social service agencies in a data collaborative.
- Implement the Human Service Data API Suite (HSDA). Syncing the Airtable bases is a good step, but we'll need to understand how to help organizations network databases in whichever system they prefer.
- Graphic design / video production / communications. A public website that allows people to easily search and discover available social services, that's pretty straightforward, but the concept of a data collaborative and how this benefits people in need, social service providers, and the entire network of care providers including their funders: this requires art. For example, this video that introduces a public information network similar to what we can create for Lane County.
- Spanish language. Google Translate of the website can do an okay job but to really create a good translation, we will work with native Spanish speakers.
- Work on the back-end technical pieces. We'll be hosting this at MVP Studio or in the cloud, so having docker containers, a website, a mobile app are all technical considerations. Privacy and security will be major players in this effort. You can work up prototypes if you like.
Little Help Book 2020.pdf
A mention from the Mayor of Eugene! "... White Bird is collating a resource book for people to have a one-stop-shop place for all information they need; and Code for America has created 'Open Eugene' which will host those resources online."
New Blog Item November 13, 2020 https://www.eugene-or.gov/Blog.aspx?IID=248#item