In Time of Need
Status
Updated June 8, 2026 (Background explained below. Reference: the project's Schema)
Phase 1: Populate the Provider Database [75% complete]
This is big! Four seniors and one junior in the OSU Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science chose as their capstone course project to support IToN by building artificial intelligence agents that scan the Internet for provider websites, to gather all pertinent information and to parse it in a normalized format for upload to our Provider database. These agents eliminate untold hours of human labor in maintaining the database, and can be scheduled for regular scan and update. The students completed the task by the end of the academic year and we are profoundly grateful for their work.
Using the AI agents, we will extract provider information from as many of the 208 national food banks, starting with the Oregon Food Bank's 610 pantries and other sources of free food, and gathering data from throughout the United States as we grow.
Similarly, we will develop a process for obtaining provider information about all the shelters in the nation: homeless shelters, emergency shelters and domestic violence shelters using similar agents. Ideally, in emergencies, our AI engine will continually update shelter information.
Phase 2: Design the User Experience/User Interface (UX/UI) [20% complete]
Concurrently, we will create a friendly, satisfying user experience (UX) and easily navigable user interface (UI) for the front end of the application (possibly incorporating voice recognition and text-to-voice).
As already implemented, the application's query engine, including its content management system (CMS), works exceptionally well. (The schema portrays our user interface/experience approach and also how we will use data analytics to feed corrective information back to providers and foundations.)
Phase 3: Build and Integrate the Well-Being Library [Ongoing]
The contents of the Library are currently archived in Dick's website 1. It will continue to be enhanced there until it can be integrated into the application.
Phase 4: Build a Data Analytics and Feedback System [Planned]
This will be a valuable aspect of our application—a feedback process for correcting and enhancing our database, and just as importantly, communicating to Service Providers and our supporting organizations (foundations and government agencies) of unsourced areas of need.
Background
In Time of Need is a public service corporation (i.e., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) formed in early 2024, dedicated to providing helpful information to anyone in their time of need. We are registered in Oregon [2209845-95] and have a federal EIN [99-0535831], affirmed by the 501(c)(3) qualification letter from the IRS.
We are creating a service on top of a product:
Our service is providing immediate, helpful information to anyone in need, or who just wants to improve their station in life.
The underlying product is an intelligent application that queries our large database of provider information, coordinates with Google's data warehouse of geographic direction and appropriate details, and delivers helpful information through a friendly interface
In addition, we are compiling a large library of links to an abundance of helpful information we are calling the Well-Being Library.
This sketch illustrates the scope and explains the philosophy of the project. The underlying product is an intelligent application that queries our large database of provider information, coordinates with Google's data warehouse of geographic direction and appropriate details, and delivers helpful information through a friendly interface
In addition, we are compiling a large library of links to an abundance of helpful information we are calling the Well-Being Library.
Our Mission: Locate all providers who cover the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (the need for food, shelter, clothing, etc.), collecting information about who is providing free or reduced-cost goods and services, where a nearby Provider is located, and how to best get there. Our app will make that information immediately available to anyone in need.
Data Challenge: One instance of the size of the challenge: There are 620 food pantries and sources of hot and boxed meals throughout the state of Oregon. Manually inputting this data to our Provider database took over 190 hours, and when the input was complete much of the data was already obsolete and needed to be re-input.
Our AI agents will significantly reduce the time to scour the Internet, increase the accuracy of the information, and eventually expand to cover all 50 states and territories, and possibly neighboring countries. In view of the fact that we cannot vouch for the accuracy of the Provider information published on the Internet, we will clearly indicate that condition on our app.
Staffing: We'll need people—volunteers for now but eventually employees and contractors—to refine the app's code and to populate and maintain the service provider database and the Well-being Library.
Financial: We're covering all fees and other expenses out-of-pocket for now. We're working up a presentation that will tell our story to stakeholders and potential funders. Since we are a 501(c)(3), all donations will be tax-deductible. Our draft Business Plan is available online.
1 The original HTML version of the application we called The Path is a proof-of-concept website
that is temporarily located on Dick's personal website. It contains two principal resources...
The Services Directory—a long list of organizations, mostly in the greater Portland area.
The Well-being Library—a place to explore ways to manage both challenges and opportunities.
The Well-being Library—a place to explore ways to manage both challenges and opportunities.