Mini City is a tech start-up based in Atlanta that is committed to empowering one of America’s most vulnerable and often overlooked populations: the homeless. Mini City arose from the ideation of activists, developers, and strategists with a single vision. We utilize strategic community development and ground-breaking technology to alleviate homelessness. Having gone through the social enterprise start-up hack-a-thon that is Goodie Hack, we have emerged prepared to affect lasting change in the city that we call home. In order to bring about said change we are seeking funding to support Mini City’s initial pilot services programming.

Mini City uses wearable Near Field Communication (NFC) technology (similar to FitBit and Nike Fuel) to unlock vital services for the homeless. Through membership, Mini City provides legal identification, employment, nourishment, and wellness services to those in need. This has been made possible by Mini City’s tech sponsor, Tagstand (a leader in NFC and tech-enabled wearable devices). There is no other nonprofit or social enterprise in our nation, that employs this type of tech solution to alleviate homelessness; placing Mini City firmly on the forefront of bridging tech and community development.

In the six short months since Mini City's founding, we have partnered with influential frontline organizations such as the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Services. Red Shield is one of the largest homeless shelters in Atlanta which serves veterans, children, LGBTQ youth, individuals living with HIV/AIDs, and the disabled. Slated to begin this February, Mini City and Red Shield are teaming to launch the pilot program for our services. The pilot, which is free to the shelter and participants, will be used to gather data and measure the effectiveness of our solution. We will pilot the program at two additional partner shelters in February.