Country of Residence
United States
Age
17
Project title
Community Connect AI
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Community Connect AI is a youth-led civic technology project designed to help families quickly find trusted local resources for food, housing, education, youth services, and other essential needs through one simple and accessible digital platform.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Idea (We’re hoping to get started in the future)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
My idea grew from volunteering in my community and seeing how difficult it can be for families to find help even when assistance exists nearby. While volunteering with 365 Nonprofit, I helped with activities connected to food distribution, housing assistance, education, and support for families. At one community event, I met a family that had recently relocated and was struggling to afford basic necessities. Helping carry groceries to their car was a simple action, but the experience stayed with me. I began thinking about what happens before a family reaches an organization like ours. How do people know where to go? How many families never receive assistance because they do not know which organizations can help, whether they qualify, or who to contact? At the same time, my education in cybersecurity, engineering, and technology showed me how information systems can organize complex information and make it easier to use. My “Aha!” moment was realizing that I could connect these two parts of my life: community service and technology. That led to Community Connect AI, an idea for a simple digital resource navigator that helps people identify trusted community services based on what they need.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Many communities have organizations providing food assistance, housing support, tutoring, youth programs, employment resources, and other services. The problem is that information about these resources is often scattered across websites, social media pages, flyers, and individual organizations. For a family already dealing with financial pressure, relocation, housing instability, or another challenge, finding the correct organization can become another obstacle. People may not know what services exist, whether they qualify, when assistance is available, or who they should contact. This problem matters to me because I have volunteered with organizations serving families and young people. I have seen that community organizations are willing to help, but the connection between available resources and the people who need them can be inefficient. I want to use my technology background to make that connection easier. Community support should not depend on someone's ability to search through dozens of websites or know the right person. People should be able to find clear, trusted information quickly and with dignity.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Community Connect AI will be a youth-led digital resource navigator that organizes information about trusted community services in one easy-to-use place. A user could enter a need such as “food assistance,” “school supplies,” “youth tutoring,” “housing support,” or “senior assistance.” The platform would then guide the person toward appropriate local organizations and provide practical information such as services offered, eligibility requirements, operating hours, location, and contact information. The first version will focus on a limited geographic area so the information can be carefully verified rather than trying to cover too much at once. I plan to begin by building a directory of nonprofit and community organizations and speaking directly with organizations to confirm their information. The project will also emphasize accessibility. The interface should use simple language and work well on mobile devices because not everyone has access to a computer. As the project develops, I would like to explore responsible AI features that help users describe their needs in everyday language and identify the most relevant categories of assistance. The goal is not to replace nonprofits or social-service professionals. It is to make it easier for people to discover and reach the organizations that already serve their communities.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Because Community Connect AI is currently an emerging idea, its first impact will be measured through a pilot rather than by claiming results that have not happened yet. During the initial pilot, my goal is to identify and verify at least 25 local community resources and test the platform with students, families, volunteers, and community partners. I would like to collect feedback from at least 50 users during the first testing phase to understand whether they can find useful information quickly and what needs improvement. I will measure impact through numbers such as organizations listed, users reached, successful resource searches, referrals made, and participating community partners. I also want to collect short user feedback about whether the platform made finding assistance easier. Over time, success would mean more than website visits. It would mean a parent finding a school-supply program, a student discovering tutoring or mentoring, or a family learning where to obtain food or housing assistance without spending hours searching. My long-term goal is to create a model that other young people could adapt for their own communities.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Community Connect AI is different because it approaches digital inclusion from the perspective of community navigation rather than simply providing another directory. Many resource lists are static. They may contain outdated links, complicated descriptions, or information organized around agencies rather than around what a person actually needs. My project would start with the user's question: “What help am I looking for?” The platform would organize verified resources in clear categories and eventually use responsible AI to help translate everyday questions into useful resource options. Someone should not need to understand government or nonprofit terminology to find assistance. Another important difference is the youth-led community verification model. I want students and young volunteers to help identify resources, communicate with local organizations, verify information, and teach community members how to use the platform. This turns the project into both a technology solution and a civic-leadership opportunity. My cybersecurity education also influences the design. Privacy will be treated as a core principle. The platform should collect as little personal information as possible and should not require people to disclose sensitive details simply to search for services. The innovation is therefore the combination of community service, youth leadership, accessible technology, responsible AI, and privacy-conscious design.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
I am currently the founder and first team member because the project is in the idea stage. I will lead the initial research, technology planning, resource verification, and community outreach. As I develop the pilot, I hope to recruit 3–5 students with interests in technology, design, communications, and service. Leadership will be shared by giving each member responsibility for a specific area and including the full team in major project decisions.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next three months, I plan to turn Community Connect AI from an idea into a working pilot. First, I will interview nonprofit leaders, volunteers, students, and community members to better understand how people currently search for assistance and where the biggest information gaps exist. Second, I will create a verified database of approximately 25 local organizations providing services such as food assistance, youth programs, education support, and housing resources. Third, I will develop a basic mobile-friendly prototype that allows users to search resources by need. The first version will focus on simplicity and accurate information before adding advanced features. Fourth, I will recruit several students or volunteers to help test the platform and contact participating organizations. I will also ask community partners to review their listings and provide feedback. Finally, I will conduct a small pilot with at least 50 users, document what works and what does not, and use those results to improve the project. Within one year, I hope to expand the number of verified resources, build partnerships with additional community organizations, and create a toolkit that helps youth in other communities replicate the model.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Because the project is new, my first goal will be to build participation through schools, youth organizations, nonprofits, and community-service networks. I will invite students to become Community Connect volunteers and help research organizations, verify public information, test the platform, and teach others how to use it. This gives young people a meaningful way to combine technology skills with community service. I will also reach out to nonprofits and community leaders and ask them to become verified resource partners. Instead of simply listing an organization, I want partners to review their information and help us understand what residents most often need. To educate the wider community, I plan to use school presentations, community events, QR-code flyers, and social media to explain both the problem and the available resources. My goal is to make participation active rather than passive. Students will not only tell people about the project; they will help build and improve it. Community organizations will not simply appear in a database; they will help make the information more useful and accurate. By giving people clear roles in the solution, I hope Community Connect AI can become a community-owned project rather than something created by one person alone.
