Challenges
Language barriers between volunteers and refugees/immigrants, especially for less common languages
Difficulty connecting immigrants with local experts and resources
Lack of centralized resources for common issues faced
Concerns with relationship building without in-person communication
Limitations in the church's ability to expand the program beyond Louisville
Solutions
Leveraged Azure AI to enable real-time language translation between users' native languages and English
Incorporated features for volunteers to build profiles highlighting their areas of expertise
Created auto-translated resources for daily issues like schools, healthcare, and more
Added onboarding videos with local immigrants speaking in their native language
Designed the app for multi-tenancy to allow easy expansion to other communities
Solutions to Support Immigrants and Volunteers
We broke down language barriers and improved access to resources using AI and auto-translation. The app makes it easier to connect with experts, provide training, and scale the program to new communities.
