313Heals

Preview

Demo 1

“I need shelter”From first message to a finished plan, 1:07

Demo 2

Guide and mapSurvival tips and nearby help, 0:39

Home screen: You're not alone, with a cold weather advisory and common needs — **Home**Live weather alerts and common needs

Chat with the 313Heals navigator after typing I need shelter — **Navigator**Say what's going on in your own words

Here's what I found: Housing and Shelter Assistance identified — **Needs found**The app names the need back to you

Let's set up your info intake screen — **Set up once**About two minutes, stays on the phone

Top matches near you for housing and shelter — **Top matches**Local programs with hours, documents and a call button

Coordinated Assessment Model resource detail — **Resource details**What to bring, when to call, auto-fill

Map of resources across Detroit — **Map**Every resource across the city

My Help Plan with plans in progress — **My Help Plan**A checklist for each need

Plan steps with the current step highlighted — **One step at a time**Mark it done or ask for help

Housing and Shelter Complete celebration screen — **Plan complete**Every finished step is celebrated

Survival Guide topics — **Survival Guide**Cold, heat, water safety and hygiene

Staying warm in cold weather answer — **Plain answers**Practical how-tos, offline

About this app

313Heals helps Detroit residents find and follow through on help with food, utilities, housing, shelter and public benefits. Someone describes their situation in plain language, and the app works out what they need, shows them local resources, and builds a step-by-step plan they can track.

Asking for help in Detroit often ends with a waitlist instead of a next step. The resources exist, but they're hard to reach. 313Heals is built to close that gap for people facing housing instability, before things get worse.

Type “I need shelter” and the navigator confirms the need, offers to set up a profile, and finds the closest matches, like the Detroit Housing Commission or CAM Detroit's coordinated-entry line. Each listing says what documents to bring, when to call and where to go. Add one to your plan and the app walks you through it, one step at a time.

Fill in your profile once and the app can pre-fill applications for you. Everything you enter stays on your phone. Need detection runs on the device, so the app works without a connection. An optional AI navigator can give longer answers when a key is added in settings.

We built 313Heals as a team of three and presented it at the Buildathon Showcase on September 22, 2026, under Detroit's Rise Higher impact pillar: Safe, Just & Thriving Neighborhoods.

Why it matters

1 in 19

Detroit public school students experienced homelessness at some point in the 2022–23 school year.

130 days

The average wait Detroit families faced for shelter.

76%

of people calling CAM Detroit were still temporarily housed, a chance to step in earlier.

Sources: Planet Detroit, CAM Detroit 2024 Q3 report, as cited in our pitch.

How it works

Tell us what's happening
Tap a common need or type it in your own words: shelter, food, documents, transportation or housing.
Get your heal plan
A personalized checklist of the right actions, services and documents.
Stay on track
Reminders, weather alerts and progress you can see, one step at a time.

Features

Plain-language navigator

Describe the situation and the app identifies each need. Detection runs on the phone, so it works offline.

Step-by-step plans

Each need becomes a checklist with a current step, progress bar and a way to ask for help.

Local resources and map

42 Detroit organizations with hours, phone numbers, required documents and distance.

Auto-fill applications

Set up a profile once and reuse it on every application. Your info never leaves the phone.

Weather alerts and survival guide

Advisories at the top of the app and practical guides for cold, heat, water and hygiene.

Safety first

911 and the 988 crisis line are a tap away, and text scales with Dynamic Type.

Who built what

E

Edward Wilson

Coding and AI integration

A

Aubri McEachern

Me · coding and design

S

Shakita Crittendon

Research on local charities and resources; project management

Business model

First users

Detroiters facing housing instability, reached through CAM, shelters, libraries, outreach teams and nonprofit partners.

First customers

The City of Detroit, CAM and Continuum of Care partners, shelters and service providers.

Revenue

City or system licenses, provider subscriptions, and kiosk and implementation partnerships.

Roadmap

Built for Detroit, ready for other cities

Now
Accessible app and beta testing In progress
The user-facing experience, tested with real users.
Next
Pilot with a partner Next
A pilot-ready version with a nonprofit or city partner.
Later
Public kiosk Planned
A kiosk version with live updates from partner organizations.

Palette

City of Detroit “Rise Higher” brand

Spirit Green#279989

Rise Blue#1D3A6B

City Green#004445

Light Green#9FD5B3

Accent Yellow#FEB70D

Information

Developers: Edward Wilson, Aubri McEachern, Shakita Crittendon
Category: Social services · Utilities
Compatibility: iPhone, iOS 17.0 or later
Architecture: SwiftUI, MVVM, @Observable, async/await
Frameworks: MapKit, CoreLocation, UserNotifications, PhotosUI
AI: On-device need detection; optional Anthropic API navigator
Data: Stored on the device only, no backend
Size: 73 Swift files · 7,646 lines
Typography: Montserrat, Roboto, Roboto Serif
Shown at: Buildathon Showcase, Sept 22, 2026
Source: github.com/mceachern1ac/313heals

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