I began doing research at the techshow and was amazed by how difficult it was for veterans to find resources online for education benefits and employment resources. I am also completely amazed by how few states offer extension education benefits to their veterans to make up much of the slack left from federal benefits. The hope is that this application would be a great resource and raise awareness on state education benefits for veterans!

What it does

I was looking at the other projects and I really didn't want to re-invent the wheel here. This is a practical, logical reasoning that offers users two avenues. One is educational benefits and resources available by state and even county. The second avenue is a way to connect veterans with volunteer organizations and legal aide. This avenue provides a contact form for the user to complete which can then be sent to a specific organization or list of organizations based on location and type of particular issue the user describes (very flexible here).

The test case is Texas, but other states can be added soon!

How I built it

I built this tool with Neota Logic. Neota Logic is an AI, logic-reasoning based solution used by many in the legal industry. It creates a soft-development environment over Java in which non-programmers can create logic reasoning tools to streamline processes. I mapped out the processes and then completed the logic.

Challenges I ran into

Some of the challenges were trying to make an app specific enough to a particular category without being too broad. It was a huge help to bring in several experts and those with experience in these categories!

What I learned

I learned so much about veterans and some of the roadblocks they face. This experience definitely makes me an advocate for veterans and for helping veterans re-assimilate when they get back home!

What's next for Veterans Get Busy Initiative (app)

It would be really great to continue to add in states beyond Texas. Also, it would be really great if we could partner with some universities to build in logic to output for transferable skills in the employment opportunities section of the app.

Share this project: