GraceBridge
User Guide

Get help / intake — what a seeker sees

Screen: /gethelpUpdated 2026-09-22For: Person seeking help, Volunteer

What this screen is for

Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /gethelp, illustrating “What this screen is for”, with numbered callouts: 1. Start — tell us what’s going on.
Figure 1 — What this screen is for.

This is the front door for a person who needs help today, and for the volunteer sitting beside them filling it out together. /gethelp is the welcome page; /intake is the four-step form itself.

What you see, in the screen's own labels

Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /intake, illustrating “What you see, in the screen's own labels”, with numbered callouts: 1. You tell us what's going on.; 2. A real person reads every word.; 3. We stay until help actually arrives.; 4. Okay — I'm ready.
Figure 2 — What you see, in the screen's own labels.

`/gethelp`: "Whatever brought you here, you don't have to carry it alone." Two buttons: "Start — tell us what's going on →" and "I already asked — check on my request." A trust line with a padlock: "Always free and confidential for the person asking. Your story is read by a real person, never sold."

Before the form (`/intake`): "You're in the right place," then three simple things, before anything is asked:

  1. "You tell us what's going on." — your own words, about four minutes, no forms maze.
  2. "A real person reads every word." — not a queue, not a bot deciding.
  3. "We stay until help actually arrives." — not referred, received.

Button: "Okay — I'm ready →."

The four steps, with progress dots:

  1. "Let's get you connected" — first/last name, phone, optional email, and how you'd rather be reached: Call me / Text me / Email me.
  2. "What do you need help with?" — 13 need categories (Food, Housing, Utility bills, Transportation, Clothing, Childcare, Work / income, Medical care & prescriptions, Rehab, Sobriety & recovery support, Mental & emotional health, Getting an ID or birth certificate, Something else), how soon (Today / This week / Soon / Not urgent), an optional church-family question, housing situation, household size, children at home.
  3. "Tell us your story" — one open box: "Take your time. Start anywhere." A sentence or two is enough to send; more helps more.
  4. "One last look" — a summary with an Edit link, a required consent checkbox ("I agree that GraceBridge may share my information with organizations that can help me"), and an optional SMS checkbox that states plainly: "You will still get the same help if you leave this unchecked."

Button: "Send my request →."

The confirmation page: "You've been heard." A case-number card with Your Case # and an access code, and: "You'll need both to check on your request — like a key that only fits your own door. Save or screenshot this."

What to do

Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /intake, illustrating “What to do”, with numbered callouts: 1. First name; 2. Español.
Figure 4 — What to do.
Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /intake, illustrating “What to do”, with numbered callouts: 1. First name; 2. Español.
Figure 3 — What to do.
  • If you're a volunteer filling this out with someone, do it together on your phone or theirs — ask the questions gently and type while they talk; it's often better than handing over a screen.
  • Write both the case number and access code down, or screenshot the confirmation, before you part ways.
  • Prefer español? Tap the floating "Español" bubble — it translates the welcome screen. The form itself is honestly still in English on this build; the page says so, in Spanish, and invites the person to write their story in Spanish anyway — a real person reads it either way.

What NOT to do

Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /intake, illustrating “What NOT to do”, with a highlighted region and numbered callouts: 1. DON'T — Do you have a church family? (optional).
Figure 5 — What NOT to do.
Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /gethelp, illustrating “What NOT to do”.
Figure 4 — What NOT to do.
  • Don't require the church-family question. It's entirely optional and never gates anything — and if the box for contacting a church isn't checked, the software will not contact it. Not ever, not as a favor.
  • Don't check the SMS box on someone's behalf without asking. It's genuinely optional, and the software enforces that: leaving it unchecked blocks any text message from being sent, it doesn't just discourage it.
  • Don't lose the access code. The case number alone opens nothing — that's deliberate, so a guessed case number can't read anyone's story.

When something goes wrong

Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /intake, illustrating “When something goes wrong”, with numbered callouts: 1. Still needed: your name.
Figure 6 — When something goes wrong.
Screenshot of the get help intake screen at /gethelp, illustrating “When something goes wrong”.
Figure 5 — When something goes wrong.
  • Something required is missing: the page says so gently at the bottom — "Still needed: {what's missing}" — rather than a hard error.
  • Submission fails on the server side: "Something went wrong on our end — not yours. Please try again."
Volunteer note. There is no "add a case" button anywhere in the dashboard. Every case begins here, with the person's own words and their own consent — that's a deliberate design, not a missing feature.