Hacking for Social Good
November 11, 2013鈥擝efore 鈥渉acking鈥� meant stealing identities and credit card numbers, hacking referred to sitting down and finding a solution to a problem. Four Georgetown majors recently won PayPal鈥檚 hackathon, , with an app that addresses Washington, DC鈥檚 homelessness problem.
At Battle Hack DC, Welles Robinson (C鈥�14), Janet Zhu (C鈥�15), Kristen Schwabe-Fry (C鈥�14), and Andrew Hian-Cheong (C鈥�15) had 24 hours to create something that could 鈥渋mprove the way your city functions,鈥� Janet Zhu said. The only catch was that the product had to involve a financial transaction that would incorporate PayPal鈥檚 API (application programming interface). Companies give away access to their API so their product is used on other websites and apps. According to Hian-Cheong, we encounter APIs everywhere, prompting us to 鈥淧ay with PayPal鈥� or 鈥淟ogin with Facebook.鈥�
After a few hours of talking through ideas, the students decided to create PhilanthroFeed, an Android app that allows smartphone users to donate money to homeless people. Robinson hoped the app could help bypass individuals鈥� hesitations to giving on the street鈥攚hether it鈥檚 not having cash or wanting to ensure money is used for life essentials. The app allows users to donate money directly to an individual鈥檚 account, which can be redeemed at participating restaurants and delis.
PhilanthroFeed would allow users or social workers to create profiles for homeless individuals. 鈥淭hey鈥檇 only need Internet access once,鈥� Robinson explained. Individuals can find out about their balance a few ways: from the donating user, from a partner restaurant, or via text message. While a homeless person would not need a smartphone to participate, Robinson says, the students鈥� research showed that many in the homeless population do have some kind of phone, which would allow people to receive text messages about their PhilanthroFeed balance.
Although hackathons allow programmers time to create a product that works, the Georgetown students also wanted to make sure their idea worked. So as Robinson and Hian-Cheong continued to work on the app within the 24-hour deadline, Zhu and Schwabe-Fry went to speak with people in Federal Triangle to learn if PhilanthroFeed would actually help them. The students met Mark, a homeless man who had lost his job a few months ago and was struggling to find work. 鈥淲hen we discussed our idea with Mark, he embraced it,鈥� Schwabe-Fry said. 鈥淗e even opened up to us about his own personal story and how our idea could make a positive difference for him, and he was incredibly supportive and encouraging of our work,鈥� she continued.
The students know that PhilanthroFeed still needs work. 鈥淚t would require implementation outside of a hackathon,鈥� Zhu said. But the point of a hackathon, Robinson says, is not to create a perfect product, but to come up with a solution to a problem in a limited amount of time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about coming up with a solution that might not be optimal, but it works,鈥� he explained. 鈥淵ou get [the app] to work, and then you try to make it better.鈥�
As a possible next step, the students have discussed partnering with local organizations that work with DC鈥檚 homeless population. Nonprofits could help create partnerships with restaurants and potentially use the students鈥� template to implement the app. 鈥淚 would absolutely love to see more work done on PhilanthroFeed to turn it into something that people in our city can actually download onto their phones and use,鈥� Schwabe-Fry said. 鈥淚 think it addresses a worthwhile problem in our community and has a lot of potential,鈥� she continued.
For now, the students are focused on the Battle Hack finals in California, where they will have 24 hours to create a new product. Georgetown is the only team of university students to make it to the finals, and they will be competing with professionals in their field from around the world. At the finals, there will be no limitations or themes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 completely open; we just have to use the PayPal API again,鈥� Hian-Cheong said. The students have been hashing out ideas, but they won鈥檛 be allowed to do any coding until the competition starts.
鈥淲e went into the experience wanting to try something new, hoping to have some fun together, and get some good programming experience while we were at it. We ended up getting all of that and more,鈥� Schwabe-Fry said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to seeing what we are able to hack together this time.鈥�