Inspiration
We were inspired to choose Heal One World because of their commitment to the Hawai'ian community after the devastating wildfires last year. Our app's design and functionality is designed with their intent in mind; keep Mauians connected to a network of support classes, community events, and a space for interaction.
What it does
The web app has two main functionalities: events and communities.
In the events tab, Mauians can check local events ranging from yoga, reiki, group healing sessions, and more. In addition, users can post their own events for the community to attend. In the communities tab, locals can view and post their thoughts on recent events, discuss resources, and communicate important information. Moreover, our web application provides resources for locals affected by the wildfire in both our home and about us sections.
How we built it
Our framework utilizes Vite with Node.js, Express, and React. We also use MongoDB with Mongoose for our online database. Development was split into initial planning, setting up the database, then creating each section.
Challenges we ran into
The first half of the development went smoothly, with only some errors connecting the database to the Vite framework through HTTP requests. However, the latter half was much harder as there was a time crunch to develop certain features. While some features were scrapped for time, we were able to apply most of the functionality, leading to a fully functioning implementation.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're proud that our application supports the community by a space to have discussions and create classes for local members. The development process was certainly not easy, but creating this platform in only 36 hours is an achievement we value.
What we learned
While we did learn a lot about web development, user design, and programming, much of our learning came from the community. Media coverage of last year's wildfires was fierce during the ongoing stages, but since then, outlets have been quiet. During our research phase, we were surprised to learn that many community members are missing today, and that there is still great work to be done to reconstruct the islands.
What's next for Maui Strong
We are looking to two main goals for our future: adoption and feature additions. As we add functionality like admin moderation and specialized events planning, we can provide Mauians with an even greater resource.
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