A hackathon to help homeless veterans
Last weekend I participated in a veteran-themed hackathon from an organization called Fall In. If you don’t know, a hackathon is an event where you collaborate with other developers to build an app based on the hackathon’s theme. Fall In is unique because they focus specifically on the military community.
The main focus of this hackathon was veteran homelessness, which is an important issue. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), approximately 33,000 veterans experienced homelessness in our nation in 2021. That’s a shocking number and ranges from veterans who lived in shelters, slept in their cars, or lived on the streets.
The reasons for homelessness can vary from financial issues or mental health to people just going through difficult times. Regardless, it’s too high of a number and needs to be addressed because it’s a shame to have those who served their nation end up on the streets. It’s an important issue that needs to be addressed, and I’m glad the event would collectively be working on solutions.
A unique twist about the hackathon is being hosted in the metaverse on a platform called Frame. It’s a fun little virtual space where users can navigate their virtual avatars and socialize with others in a custom digital space. While there were still a few bugs with the platform, such as the occasional audio issue, it was much more engaging than a typical Zoom call.
A participant could enter with a team or either go solo. I joined the hackathon solo and was placed in a group upon arrival. I was placed in a group with veterans from all over the United States and varying experience levels. I was indifferent to the technology stack my group would use, even if it were a language or framework I don’t personally use. It would be a fun challenge to utilize a technology I don’t extensively use. Since our time and experience were limited, we decided to build a clickable front end to showcase our app. Our group chose the popular JavaScript library ReactJS would be the tool of choice.
Our team was named “Team Motivation,” and we decided to tackle veteran homelessness by building an app for veteran mentorship. Many veterans spend their military service surrounded by teammates and others ready to help. However, once service members leave the military, they can feel isolated without guidance in the future if they don’t have a strong support network. We wanted to create a platform that would allow veterans, regardless of where they were in their life, to have easy access to a mentor willing to help. A veteran could sign up for our app and receive actionable steps to improve their life from another experienced veteran. The service would be free and composed of volunteers who want to assist fellow veterans.
After brainstorming and formulating some mockups on Figma, we were ready to start coding. We assigned roles and got straight to work right for our assigned responsibilities. We did our jobs and communicated when we needed help. What I love about veterans is how good of teammates they can be. It doesn’t matter their branch of service teamwork is ingrained into their work ethic. A veteran’s ability to be placed in an unfamiliar situation and achieve a goal makes them great employees and teammates.
Demo day was on Sunday, and our group got an excellent front-end app up and running using React. It was great to see other veterans present their apps to everyone and all of us tackling the homeless veteran issue. Everyone also received excellent advice from the judges, who were experts in their industry, and it’s motivating to see professionals who volunteer with veteran organizations. Our group placed 2nd, and I was proud of what our team achieved for a group that didn’t know each other 72 hours ago. To further display the helping spirit of veterans, the group that placed 1st decided to donate their winnings to a veteran homeless charity.
I finished the weekend with a sense of accomplishment and glad that I decided to participate. Hackathons are a great way to break out of your comfort zone while meeting other motivated individuals. I’m grateful for the opportunity to grow as a developer and advocate for the veteran community. I challenge you to find a hackathon you’re passionate about and build something great. Thanks for reading and Happy Coding!
