Peacegeeks, a Vancouver-based humanitarian nonprofit, is in the top 10 finalists for Google Canada’s Impact Challenge, which provides $5 million of funding for the winners. If it wins, the group plans to use the funding to help refugees and immigrants rebuild their lives in Canada.
Their proposed app, Pathways, is a spin-off of Services Advisor, "Services Advisor," which was profiled in National Observer earlier this year. The app is being used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Jordan, Turkey and Somalia, connecting people with the help and services they need.
Refugees await transportation at the Hadalat Border between Jordan and Syria. File photo by J. Kohler, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Affinity Bridge, a Vancouver-based web development company working for progressive social and environmental causes, has been working for the last two years with nonprofit PeaceGeeks to create the Services Advisor app.
Pathways would help newcomers prepare for life in Canada, even before they arrive, through navigating immigration services and employment resources in the user's native language.
Vote here by March 28 on the Google Canada Impact Challenge website.