Brief: Social services app now active in Revelstoke

Revelstoke residents now have access to an app that can connect them to social services in the area. 

HelpSeeker is a Calgary-based company developing and servicing a suite of data-driven digital solutions designed to support the social sector. Their app connects residents to local services relating to housing and shelter, food security, mental health, education and training, addictions help, employment, and more. 

In a Social Development Committee meeting in September, City of Revelstoke Community Development Coordinator Taha Attiah announced that HelpSeeker has been contracted to support social service navigation and data analysis for the ongoing City of Revelstoke Poverty Reduction update.

While the main purpose of the app for residents is to connect them with services, it will also glean data from residents’ searches in order to find out which mix of services will best meet community needs.

“Our Social Sector partner organizations have been providing input regarding use cases, as well as directing where HelpSeeker’s services can be most impactful in the community,” Attiah explains.

Another benefit brought forward in the committee meeting was that a service like HelpSeeker cuts out the need for consultants to research which changes or additions to social services in a community will most benefit residents and product reports, which are often not actionable. HelpSeeker is meant to support service providers to navigate, recommend and search for details on local social services.

Committee members discussed the project’s relation to the existing RevelstokeLife website, which has been found to be less accessible than the paper or printed services booklets that were previously available to residents. The implementation of HelpSeeker is meant to address this issue.