## Inspiration

In 2010, when Haiti was rocked by an earthquake that killed over 150,000 people, aid workers manned SMS help lines where victims could reach out for help. Even with the international humanitarian effort, there was not enough manpower to effectively handle the volume of communication. We set out to fix that.

## What it does

EmergAlert takes the place of a humanitarian volunteer at the phone lines, automating basic contact. It allows victims to request help, tell their location, place calls and messages to other people, and inform aid workers about their situation.

## How we built it

We used Mix.NLU to create a Natural Language Understanding model that categorizes and interprets text messages, paired with the Smooch API to handle SMS and Slack contact. We use FHIR to search for an individual's medical history to give more accurate advice.

## Challenges we ran into

Mentoring first time hackers was both a challenge and a joy.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

Coming to Canada.

## What we learned

Project management is integral to a good hacking experience, as is realistic goal-setting.

## What's next for EmergAlert

Bringing more depth to the NLU responses and available actions would improve the app's helpfulness in disaster situations, and is a good next step for our group.
**In times of disaster, there is an outpouring of desire to help from the public. We built a platform which connects people who want to help with people in need.**

## Inspiration

Natural disasters are an increasingly pertinent global issue which our team is quite concerned with. So when we encountered the IBM challenge relating to this topic, we took interest and further contemplated how we could create a phone application that would directly help with disaster relief.

## What it does

**Stronger Together** connects people in need of disaster relief with local community members willing to volunteer their time and/or resources. Such resources include but are not limited to shelter, water, medicine, clothing, and hygiene products. People in need may input their information and what they need, and volunteers may then use the app to find people in need of what they can provide. For example, someone whose home is affected by flooding due to Hurricane Florence in North Carolina can input their name, email, and phone number in a request to find shelter so that this need is discoverable by any volunteers able to offer shelter. Such a volunteer may then contact the person in need through call, text, or email to work out the logistics of getting to the volunteer’s home to receive shelter.

## How we built it

We used Android Studio to build the Android app. We deployed an Azure server to handle our backend(Python). We used Google Maps API on our app. We are currently working on using Twilio for communication and IBM watson API to prioritize help requests in a community.

## Challenges we ran into

Integrating the Google Maps API into our app proved to be a great challenge for us. We also realized that our original idea of including a blood donation as one of the resources would require some correspondence with an organization such as the Red Cross in order to ensure the donation would be legal. Thus, we decided to add a blood donation to our future aspirations for this project due to the time constraint of the hackathon.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are happy with our design and with the simplicity of our app. We learned a great deal about writing the server side of an app and designing an Android app using Java (and Google Map’s API” during the past 24 hours. We had huge aspirations and eventually we created an app that can potentially save people’s lives.

## What we learned

We learned how to integrate Google Maps API into our app. We learn how to deploy a server with Microsoft Azure. We also learned how to use Figma to prototype designs.

## What's next for Stronger Together

We have high hopes for the future of this app. The goal is to add an AI based notification system which alerts people who live in a predicted disaster area. We aim to decrease the impact of the disaster by alerting volunteers and locals in advance. We also may include some more resources such as blood donations.
## Inspiration

In the “new normal” that COVID-19 has caused us to adapt to, our group found that a common challenge we faced was deciding where it was safe to go to complete trivial daily tasks, such as grocery shopping or eating out on occasion. We were inspired to create a mobile app using a database created completely by its users - a program where anyone could rate how well these “hubs” were following COVID-19 safety protocol.

## What it does

Our app allows for users to search a “hub” using a Google Map API, and write a review by rating prompted questions on a scale of 1 to 5 regarding how well the location enforces public health guidelines. Future visitors can then see these reviews and add their own, contributing to a collective safety rating.

## How I built it

We collaborated using Github and Android Studio, and incorporated both a Google Maps API as well integrated Firebase API.

## Challenges I ran into

Our group unfortunately faced a number of unprecedented challenges, including losing a team member mid-hack due to an emergency situation, working with 3 different timezones, and additional technical difficulties. However, we pushed through and came up with a final product we are all very passionate about and proud of!

## Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We are proud of how well we collaborated through adversity, and having never met each other in person before. We were able to tackle a prevalent social issue and come up with a plausible solution that could help bring our communities together, worldwide, similar to how our diverse team was brought together through this opportunity.

## What I learned

Our team brought a wide range of different skill sets to the table, and we were able to learn lots from each other because of our various experiences. From a technical perspective, we improved on our Java and android development fluency. From a team perspective, we improved on our ability to compromise and adapt to unforeseen situations. For 3 of us, this was our first ever hackathon and we feel very lucky to have found such kind and patient teammates that we could learn a lot from. The amount of knowledge they shared in the past 24 hours is insane.

## What's next for SafeHubs

Our next steps for SafeHubs include personalizing user experience through creating profiles, and integrating it into our community. We want SafeHubs to be a new way of staying connected (virtually) to look out for each other and keep our neighbours safe during the pandemic.