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Imagine you’re down on luck and experiencing homelessness in the city looking for a hot meal or a shelter to spend the night, how would you find the closest social service to meet your needs? You would probably use your phone like most people do and start to google or call a hotline.
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Then you realize that turning to Google or calling helplines takes time, is inconsistent, often stressful, and may not provide up-to-date information. Still, you may persist, but many are already overwhelmed with anxiety, shame and pain. This added layer of stress often leads them to quit the search and sleep rough in the streets on an empty stomach.
This is a reality for many of those experiencing homelessness today. Those that we see on the streets whom are sleeping rough are not the only ones. They actually only represent a small portion of the demographic. The most common and largest population of people experiencing homelessness are invisible. They could be you, me, or someone working at a Fortune 500 company.
Our friend and teammate was that person. Simon, a breadwinner for his family in the Philippines, got evicted from his apartment due to sudden layoffs and faced this very reality. He reached out to Ample Labs, and we were able to help him navigate his journey.
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At Ample Labs, we are a 100% volunteer-run grassroots non-profit dedicated to using technology to empower those facing homelessness.
Ample Labs originated in 2018 as an idea when CG Chen and her friends mostly working in Toronto's vibrant tech sector saw the gap and disconnect between those experiencing this problem and the lack of solutions built to help those individuals. They started to ask themselves What can we do to contribute to this problem and how can we help with our skills?
Our team members include those with lived homeless experiences, researchers, developers, social workers, and designers and more. We have experience working with the homeless community, including LGBTQ+ and youth.
Since our inception, we have grown to 40+ active volunteers. We have conducted over one hundred one-on-one interviews and consultations with frontline staff, homeless and at-risk youth, community organizations and social services in Toronto. We have found a real need: people want an easier way to find social services. That is why we developed ChalmersBot.
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ChalmersCards
We started off with a physical guide, ChalmersCards, filled with important information such as emergency numbers and locations of social services. We would give these out to people that we thought could benefit from the information. They are especially helpful for those without access to mobile devices. They are hand-crafted laser etched wooden cards!
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However, we realized that there was a larger population that needed to be served and this product was not going to meet all their needs. So we went back to the drawing board and started working on another product that could be available to anyone, anywhere with web access. ChalmersCards are now the perfect complement.
ChalmersBot
ChalmersBot makes this process easier by providing real-time information from many services across the city.
ChalmersBot is co-designed with the homeless community, and we visit shelters regularly to ensure our updates meet their needs. Currently in Beta, ChalmersBot is helping more than 300 users per month and is being shared by frontline staff. Try it here!
The response has been overwhelmingly positive, but there is still a lot to do. We need your help to keep up with demand for additional features like mental health support and LGBTQ+ friendly services.
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Your support will help us scale ChalmersBot's capabilities, and bridge the huge gap between tech and social acessibility. This is the first step for Ample Labs to drive data-based solution with the government and other non-profits.
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For this campaign, we will need $10,000 to finish co-designing the BETA version of ChalmersBot.
50% to Pay At-Risk Youth for ~200 Hours of Co-Design
At Ample Labs we believe that empowering people through technology is equally as important as giving people opportunities. That is why we will pay $20/hr to those who are experiencing homelessness to help us co-design and finish ChalmersBot.
By collaborating with the homeless and at-risk communities, we will:
- Improve product experience and usability through recurring user feedback
- Ensure complete list of active services and resources for all demographics
- Validate the accuracy of our information and update accordingly
In developing the chatbot, we have found that co-designing this product will allow us to create a better user experience.
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50% to Help Ample Labs Pay for Operating Costs
Ample Labs is 100% volunteer run and all of our current operating expenses are being paid out-of-pocket. We hope that your generosity can alleviate some of the financial burden so that we can focus on what matters most - building a product to empower those experiencing homelessness.
Your contribution will help us:
- Keep our websites and servers running
- Pay rent for our working space
- Spread awareness about our mission
How your donation will help!
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What If This Campaign Goes Over $10,000?
This is just the beginning and there's so much more to do! All additional donations after $10,000 will be split proportionally to expand ChalmersBot’s capabilities through our co-design process and to help keep the lights on.
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Risks & Challenges
Despite our team’s experience in product and software development, there are a number of risks to address, including but not limited to: development, deployment, maintenance, regulatory/compliance, and user research.
To address these potential challenges, we are planning to run a mock study with select partners in order to de-risk our product launch and gain early user feedback on signals of product-market fit. If issues do arise, we promise to communicate with complete transparency, and mitigate as best as we can to optimize for launching a product that meets user needs.
Finally, we hope that you consider pledging to us, as every dollar received will help provide us with the initial funding required to acquire user feedback, robustly test the product and ensure a smooth delivery.
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Thank you for visiting our page and making it this far; we hope you see that there is a solution to the problem. Please consider investing in our vision by donating any amount. Help us build a solution together!
We completely understand if you can’t donate right now. There are other ways to get involved:
Spread the word on social media!
Volunteer with us!
- Are you a designer, developer, or a community member? We are always working on new products - come build with us! Visit the 'Connect with Us' section of our website and fill out the form
Partner with us!
- We are always looking for community partners, we are happy to host volunteer days at you company, collaborate and consult on tech solutions. Send us a note at general@amplelabs.co
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