How this site is built
For partner agencies and curious neighbors
This site and its application form are open source, built by volunteers for Truckee Community Cares. We wrote it so that other small organizations serving immigrant and low-income families can copy it. The code is at github.com/micrui/truckee-cares.
What happens to an application
The form encrypts each application on the applicant’s own phone before sending it. The server that receives it stores only the encrypted copy and cannot open it. Only a volunteer’s computer, with a key that never leaves it, can read applications. No account, no login, no tracking, no ads. The server keeps no addresses of the phones that connect to it. After distribution day the encrypted copies are deleted.
Voice and help features
Every screen can be read aloud with a recorded voice. The help chat and the microphone options send what a person says or types to a speech and language service (OpenAI and Anthropic) to write it down or answer; we keep none of it. The finished application is still encrypted on the phone. Details are on the privacy page.
Cost
The website is free to host. The form’s backend and its voice features cost a few dollars per season.