MOKLI: connecting at-risk youth to food, shelter and social services
About MOKLI
KARUNA is a Berlin-based aid organization that supports children and young people who live on the street and/or who are suffering from or at risk of addiction by providing them with a broad spectrum of advice. In addition to providing individual support for young people affected, the organization also tries to arrange for them assistance, therapies and places to sleep. To help the young people help themselves better, the organization created MOKLI as an online resource to provide access to critical resources.
Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.
Contact usAbout Ubilabs
Ubilabs is an owner-managed software company based in Hamburg , Munich and San Francisco . From store locators to business data visualization, we specialize in interactive map applications . In a team of around 40 developers, project managers and designers, we realize projects for well-known customers in Europe and the USA. As a Google Cloud Premier Partner, we provide comprehensive consulting and distribution of Google Maps products . In addition, we support our customers in the integration of other mapping technologies such as OpenStreetMap, CARTO or Mapbox.
Tens of thousands of children and young people are homeless and live on the streets in German cities, where they lack access to basic services like food, shelter, and medical care. KARUNA, a Berlin-based nonprofit organization considered establishing a 24-hour hotline for young people to call when they needed help, but staffing costs would have been too high. Since most young people have smartphones, KARUNA decided an online interactive map would provide fast access to information about shelters, free medical care, and counseling services.
Google Maps Platform Results
- Young people who might be fearful of contacting parents, teachers or authorities are comfortable using Google Maps — a tool that's familiar to them — to seek assistance.
- Simple icons, such as beds for shelter and tableware for food, as well as autocomplete functionality of the Places API for location searches, help less-literate young people easily navigate maps.
- Because Google Maps easily integrates with MOKLI's website, KARUNA didn't have to hire a professional maps programmer, which would cost between €45,000 and €60,000 per year.
3,400 service locations listed on MOKLI
"With Google Maps, we can link detailed mapping data to information about social services, adapting maps to the particular needs and habits of vulnerable young people."
—Annika Bock, Project Owner at Ubilabs"Vulnerable young people who hesitate to ask adults for help will readily use the Google Maps on MOKLI to find shelter, food and counseling nearby."
—Jennifer Menges, Management Assistant of Karuna and Project Manager for MOKLIWorking with Google Cloud Premier Partner Ubilabs, KARUNA created MOKLI, a mobile website built on Google Maps Platform. On their smartphones, young people can choose the type of service they need – such as a shelter or free medical services – and view locations on a map created using their phones' geolocation service. Users can also get directions to their chosen service. KARUNA and Ubilabs chose Google Maps because of its ease of use for every audience: young people, social workers, and developers. Young people are familiar with Google Maps already, so they didn't need to learn to use a new tool. Google Maps is also mobile-friendly, which was important to KARUNA because most of their young clients access their service using a smartphone. Social workers can also easily update contact information, hours, and addresses in a Google Sheet and the data updates automatically in Google Maps. In mid-2017, MOKLI is adding an easy-to-use "update data" button for social workers; changes will go directly to KARUNA. If KARUNA social workers think of new and useful features for the MOKLI maps, they can easily add them using Google Maps Platform.
Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.
Contact us
About MOKLI
KARUNA is a Berlin-based aid organization that supports children and young people who live on the street and/or who are suffering from or at risk of addiction by providing them with a broad spectrum of advice. In addition to providing individual support for young people affected, the organization also tries to arrange for them assistance, therapies and places to sleep. To help the young people help themselves better, the organization created MOKLI as an online resource to provide access to critical resources.
About Ubilabs
Ubilabs is an owner-managed software company based in Hamburg , Munich and San Francisco . From store locators to business data visualization, we specialize in interactive map applications . In a team of around 40 developers, project managers and designers, we realize projects for well-known customers in Europe and the USA. As a Google Cloud Premier Partner, we provide comprehensive consulting and distribution of Google Maps products . In addition, we support our customers in the integration of other mapping technologies such as OpenStreetMap, CARTO or Mapbox.