Florida Community Innovation: Bridging Gaps in Resource Access
When people need support, finding the right resource should not be another barrier.
Across Florida, individuals, families, social workers, nonprofits, and local organizations often face the same challenge: helpful resources may exist, but they are not always easy to find, understand, or access. Information can be scattered across websites, systems, and organizations, making it harder for people to connect with the support they need.
Florida Community Innovation is working to change that.
Led by Caroline Nickerson, Florida Community Innovation is a civic technology nonprofit that brings together students, researchers, volunteers, and community partners to build social services technologies, conduct research, and support community-centered problem solving.
Through Rally, Caroline and the Florida Community Innovation team are advancing the Florida Community Resource Map, a user-friendly platform designed to aggregate and visualize community resources across the state.
Turning Information Into Access
The idea for the Florida Community Resource Map began during the height of COVID-19, when Florida Community Innovation was working with partners at the Central Florida Foundation to map pandemic-related resources.
What began as an effort to organize COVID-19 support quickly revealed a much larger issue. The challenge was not only about pandemic resources. Across Florida, many people were struggling to find the right services at the right time.
That insight became the foundation for the Florida Community Resource Map.
The platform is designed to help Floridians more easily locate vital community resources and connect with the organizations, programs, and services available to them.
Building With Community and Research
Florida Community Innovation has continued to refine the Resource Map through research, partnerships, and feedback from the field.
Graduate student partners from Georgetown University helped validate the need for a resource mapping tool. Students supported through the University of Florida and the University of Michigan helped optimize designs for social workers who could use the map on behalf of clients. American University graduate students also explored policy implications and potential use cases, including food insecurity, local government support, and outreach to different communities.
The Resource Map was also part of the TableTalk initiative with the Central Florida Foundation, which helped support the development of a Spanish-language version. Since then, Florida Community Innovation has partnered with organizations including Mount Dora Community Trust, United Way of Northwest Florida, and the Community Foundation of North Central Florida to continue strengthening the platform.
Testing the Map in Practice
Today, Florida Community Innovation is piloting the Resource Map in partnership with the University of Central Florida and community workers connected to the Holden Heights Community Center.
The pilot is helping the team understand how the tool works in real community settings and how it can better support the people and organizations using it.
For Caroline, the work is about reducing information gaps and making it easier for individuals and organizations to connect with support. The Resource Map is designed not only as a technology tool, but as part of a larger effort to build a more connected and resilient Florida.
What’s Next
As Florida Community Innovation completes the Rally Fellowship, the team is focused on scaling the platform, improving its features, expanding data offerings, and building new partnerships.
The organization is actively seeking community foundations, nonprofits, mentors, and other partners interested in helping refine the Resource Map and expand its reach.
Florida Community Innovation is also looking for mentors to support the interdisciplinary student team, which includes students from fields such as computer science, political science, and more.
The long-term vision is to make the Florida Community Resource Map an indispensable tool for social change, helping every community in Florida become more connected to the resources people need to thrive.
To learn more or get involved, visit floridainnovation.org.
About the Author
Caroline Nickerson is the Executive Director of Florida Community Innovation, a civic technology nonprofit that empowers youth innovators, university students, volunteers, and community partners to build social services technologies, conduct research, and engage in community service. She is also a Program Specialist at SciStarter and a PhD candidate at the University of Florida, where she studies climate change communication.
Website: floridainnovation.org
Contact: info@floridainnovation.org
About Rally
Rally is a civic innovation platform that connects entrepreneurs, institutions, and community partners to test and strengthen solutions addressing real social and environmental challenges. Through workshops, accelerators, partnership opportunities, and ecosystem engagement, Rally helps move promising ideas toward real-world impact.
Learn more at www.rallysea.com.
