pods

Chelsey·Jul 31, 2020

Posted in:Favors Family & Relationships Health & Wellness In The News Show Elpha Startups Wins Parenting

Hello team Elpha! I'm a founder and a mom (kids ages 2 and 5) and I've spent the last year building an app called The Troop to make it easier for parents and their kids to meet-up and play. With stress, anxiety and loneliness at an all-time high for parents, finding ways to build in-person community in low pressure ways is extremely important. With the pandemic, I spent time assessing where the app could now add the most value. I've spent the last few weeks adding in features to try to help with finding and meeting-up within "Pods" (a rapidly growing movement with schools being up in the air in the fall) and getting "Extra Hands" when they need them. It's map based so you can see exactly where the pod is at, ages of the kids and schools they attend (if applicable). And once in a pod, you can send signals to pod members to meet-up (whether that's at someone's house, or a park, or for a hike near the beach etc.)More details are at jointhetroop.com/pods and you and any friends/pod members can download for free at jointhetroop.com using invite code "elpha". I hope it helps!!!!

teresaman·Aug 01, 2020

Hey Chelsey! I'm tagging @prathimarao — you both are working in the helping-parents space and maybe you'd enjoy a conversation with each other! See Prathima's intro here: https://elpha.com/posts/4zecbg2i/july-2020-new-member-welcome-thread-introduce-yourself-in-the-comments#xf5n2366

prathimarao·Aug 01, 2020

Thank you for the intro @teresaman! @Chelsey nice to meet you! We definitely share the common goal of making parenting easier :). We are putting together a pandemic resource hub for parents on our platform and would love to feature your app. Let's connect!

shriyasekhsaria·Aug 01, 2020

@Chelsey @prathimarao I love what you’re both building! We recently entered the parenting space with our app (www.lumhaa.com/app) as well, where we help parents create “memory jars” to do 3 things:1. Watch their babies grow by adding a photo a day into the memory jar and sharing the jar’s secret link with others to see/add memories (photos, videos, sounds, and note)2. Parents of graduating students are creating a “life yearbook” with a visual timeline of the most important accomplishments and milestones of their proud graduates3. Parents are collecting wishes from friends and family via secret links for “birthday wish jars” and ordering physical versions as gifts. The physical versions come with QR codes that once scanned, video messages from friends and families are played, making it interactive and fun.I’d love to join in on the conversation in case any of this is of interest, and learn more about your journeys!

mandi·Aug 03, 2020

In San Francisco this has been circulating as well. www.pandemicpods.org

MegScheding·Aug 03, 2020

What a great resource Chelsey! Am definitely going to check it out and recommend for my parent friends. Also going to PM you about an org I'm working with in the edtech space that would be a good partner for things to do in your pod that are educational :)