Impact for Women is a not-for-profit organisation based in Melbourne that supports women and children escaping family violence in Victoria. They procure donations and create “Bags of Love” filled with essential items a woman needs to support herself and her family during a difficult time in their life.
In 2021, charity founder Kathy Kaplan spoke to the PhoenixDX team about Impact for Women and their mission. They were introduced to PhoenixDX by employee Mike Samuel, who has an enduring connection with the charity and continues volunteering in his spare time.
In March 2023, OutSystems graciously provided free access to their platform to build a mission-critical application to automate the charity’s operations. A core volunteer team was put together at PhoenixDX, including Rianne van Buitenen, Julia Ashton Sayers, Mike Samuels, Hanno Coetzee, Aish Venkataraman and Ewan Le Bourhis.
Work soon began on the Drive & Deliver application and it went into production just in time for Christmas 2023. The app successfully helped Impact for Women coordinate the crucial end-of-year volunteer deliveries of more than 2,000 ‘Bags of Love’, as well as agency and gift bags including Christmas gifts for children. It now stands ready to help with future deliveries.
Designed and custom-built by volunteer PhoenixDX staff using the OutSystems ODC platform, the workflow automation application replaces manual processes that previously took one person – Kathy Kaplan – 60+ hours to perform the delivery allocation process. Once agency demand is determined, designated staff members centrally manage the resource allocation via the app’s dashboard. The app recommends available volunteer drivers for delivery allocation and automatically sends emails to drivers and agencies with the assignment, eliminating the need for cumbersome spreadsheets and error-prone manual email notifications. Drivers are given an agency address and confidential contact details to assist them in reaching their assigned destination.
The charity’s feedback indicates that the Drive & Deliver application’s first use for their pre-Christmas ‘Bags of Love’ deliveries was a resounding success.
Due to the app’s scalability, Impact for Women hopes to expand its operations beyond Victoria to other states soon and, eventually, go nationwide.
