A website created to link Manitobans with neighbours needing a little extra support during the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a significant increase in users, says the CEO of a tech company that helped the province put the site together.
The site, Help Next Door MB, was created by the province and North Forge Technology Exchange at the end of March.
North Forge CEO Joelle Foster told 680 CJOB the site has had thousands of new users sign up since its launch a few weeks ago.
“On March 24, the day after the announcement… we had about 2,800 users at the time,” said Foster.
“As of this morning, we are over a 60 per cent increase, with over 6,300 users.”
Foster said Help Next Door — where Manitobans can ask for help and/or volunteer to help with others’ requests — has seen a wide variety of calls for help since its inception, but there have been a few repeat requests.
“Delivery is one of our biggest ones, and the second one is people that need people to talk with, about mental health.”
A change to the site, she said, is that they’ve also created an option for users to request help from multiple people for things like sandbagging in the event of a flood.
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Foster said 172 communities around Manitoba are currently signed up to participate in the program.
For more information on the site and the help offered, go to Help Next Door MB,.
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