New App to Help the Homeless

Homeless Pembrokeshire/Carmarthenshire has announced a special new project.

AMANDA EVANS explains…

Sammy-Sander/Pixabay

Homeless Pembrokeshire/ Carmarthenshire have been working for some time now on a special project, quietly and diligently.

Imagine this: a service available to everyone, any time of day, always active and with a single purpose, to help people dealing with homelessness.

Which people? Three main groups;

• People who are homeless or about to be
• Concerned others, family, friends or members of the public who want to help
• Support workers and volunteers with organisations who want to help.

We started to think about each of these groups and what we could do to assist them in a coherent and joined up way. What we came up with was an app – and we call it Homeless LocalLink.

Homeless LocalLink was developed in-house by Homeless Pembrokeshire/ Carmarthenshire’s Amanda and William. The app is a one-stop shop for people who need our services directly, concerned citizens and organisational professionals.

It will;

• List details of relevant services and how to contact them
• List vital information on how to survive on the streets
• Connect professionals
• Allow real-time reporting of what’s happening on the streets
• List properties and rooms for rent.

We are in the process of finalising the initial data input and expect to be in a position to make Homeless LocalLink available very shortly. So it’s pretty much done and ready to rock.

nattanan23/Pixabay

However, while the app itself is done and will shortly be ready, we need funds to launch it. It’s not cheap to run an app such as this and we are looking for sponsors and funders to support it. We have some fundraising events coming up (more about that soon) and we’re initially hoping to launch the app officially at one of those events later this summer.

That was the plan, but we thought that’s too long, as it’s ready now.

We spoke to our good friends Pembroke and Pembroke Dock Lions Club, steadfast supporters of what we do. We told them about our project, we showed them Homeless LocalLink, and we talked about its use and why we think it’s important. They agreed, and the next day they promised to donate the necessary funding to “pre-launch” the app, until further funding can kick in and take over. This was amazing news and we are thrilled to be able to announce it.

Within the next week we will make Homeless LocalLink available to download, and start telling you more about how to use it and what it can do to help.”