Homefound

Hi everyone! My name is Jin. You might have had me as your Uber driver, or perhaps we have crossed paths somewhere around LA. When I’m driving around the city, I see a lot of unhoused people. What many people do not know is that I have gone through that myself. Just recently, in 2024, I was living in my car.

I have also been around recovery for the last 10 years, and it has done more than remarkable miracles for me and other friends I’ve met along the way. But along this journey, I’ve gotten an in-depth look at just how broken the system can be. Sometimes, people who are struggling have a hard time gathering resources. When facing addiction or surviving on the streets, it can be a massive struggle to save up for important things when funds are handed directly to you—whether due to the grips of addiction or the blinders that are easy to fall into when you’re in a hole of desperate need.

It can also be incredibly hard to find the right resources when you’re living one second at a time. I’ve realized it can be a conflicting thought for some people when handing money to a stranger on the street, but the goal of my app is to provide a remedy to that uncertainty. We live in the modern age but still don’t see a solution to something every human deserves. That is why I am building Homefound.

What is Homefound?

The goal of Homefound is to crowdfund resources that go directly to those looking to make real, sustainable changes in their lives. By bridging the gap between donors and vetted local organizations, we can ensure that every dollar makes a targeted impact. Here are the core features of the app your donation will help build:

• Direct-to-Resource Funding Let charitable individuals and organizations contribute funds directly to long-term goals such as housing and recovery programs.
• Immediate Needs Stipends Donors can fulfill urgent short-term needs—like funding a hot meal or a warm coat. Instead of cash, these physical items are routed directly to secure, vetted local drop-off zones for the individual to pick up.
• 100% Direct Impact (Optional Tip Model) We believe your money should go straight to the cause. Homefound will never take a mandatory percentage of your donation as a platform fee. Instead, our infrastructure is sustained by an optional tip feature at checkout, allowing donors who believe in our mission to voluntarily help cover our operational costs.
• Anti-Abuse & Rate Limits To ensure resources are distributed fairly and to prevent hoarding or reselling, immediate stipends have strict system limits (e.g., a maximum of 3 meals funded per person, per day).
• Verified Caseworker Updates To protect the vulnerable and prevent the platform from being used for direct solicitation, all profile updates and milestone tracking are managed by verified community caseworkers.
• Total Transparency Equip individuals with QR codes that link directly to their unique profiles, allowing donors to read their stories and fund specific resource goals with complete confidence that the money bypasses direct cash transfers.

Where Your Funds Will Go

To bring this vision to life, I need your help to get the platform off the ground. Your contributions will directly fund the following:

• App Development & Launch Finalizing the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), setting up the Caseworker Portal, and covering server, hosting, and App Store fees so users can start downloading Homefound.
• Community Helpers Providing funding for field advocates who can safely connect with the unhoused, listen to their experiences, help them set up their profiles, and act as verified caseworkers to post progress updates.
• Partnership Outreach Allocating resources and time into connecting with local organizations, shelters, and establishing our network of secure community drop-off zones.
• Legal Setup & The Path to Non-Profit Status Covering the initial legal costs and entity formation to ensure the platform is secure and compliant. Your support right now lays the essential groundwork for our long-term goal: officially establishing Homefound as a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Once we reach this milestone, we will be able to offer tax-deductible receipts for all future donations.
• Local Marketing Spreading the word around Los Angeles to build our initial user base of both donors and community partners.