FAST Emergency Shelter App

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

According to Alameda County’s 2019 Point-in-Time Survey, more than 8,000 people experience homelessness on a single night in Alameda County, with approximately 20 percent in need of emergency shelter. As cell phone use proliferates among the most vulnerable population, nationwide, developers have begun creating apps that address the needs of the homeless. The goal of these apps is to bring vital resources like shelters, rehabilitation centers, or food pantries directly to homeless people with cell phones. In an effort to enhance the ability of emergency shelters under contract with the Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) to more efficiently manage their subsidized bed capacity, as well as to provide unsheltered individuals with real time information about the availability of overnight shelter beds, SSA authorized the development of the FAST (Find A Shelter Tonight) Emergency Shelter App. Initial piloting of the App commenced in January 2020 with 17 shelters.