The Metropolitan Ministries technology challenge gave coders an opportunity to provide hope to families in need. So many unique and innovative ideas were demonstrated by our innovative coding community. I never would have dreamed that bots, technology platforms like IBM’s Watson or sophisticated Block Chain concepts, along with automated delivery systems could be a part of a homeless shelters’ delivery model. The coders demonstrated these innovations could be a reality and later this year we are going into real production leveraging concepts presented during the challenge. – Tim Marks, President of Metropolitan Ministries
The Problem:
In March 2018, Metropolitan Ministries, challenged the community to help meet an unanticipated but urgent need to respond to homeless community members requesting assistance via their Facebook page. They need help managing the overwhelming outreach from those in immediate need, often outside of regular business hours.
The Solution:
Matt Spaulding, built an artificial intelligence (AI) bot with that engages in a predictive manner with those in need, enabling faster care at difficult times. This engine connects to Facebook Messenger and allows the organization to help those in need quickly, solving a major challenge for the mission.
Follow up:
Metropolitan Ministries is launching an updated website in Fall of 2019 and integrating this innovative technology to optimize resources and better serve the community.
In addition, Matt has since built his tech into a new company, recently incorporated, called Givvn, now designed to help non-profits increase donor engagement and donation collection. As of September 2018, Matt had 6 new clients to pilot his technology.
Prize: $3,500
Number of Solutions: 11
Length of challenge: 3 weeks
