Community and Family Resources: Black History Month App

THE CHALLENGE 

In 2020, the City of Bloomington’s Community and Family Resource Department (CFRD) was forced to cancel most programming efforts due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2021 CFRD was able to offer some hybrid events, but mostly 100% virtual ones. They found that information was not getting out to interested audiences in the same ways as before, as residents were not visiting City Hall or other public spaces with the same frequency. For Shatoyia Moss in CFRD, the busiest time of the year runs from November through February, culminating in Black History Month. With so many amazing events happening, she sought a way to increase advertising to get the word out to more people. Historically, it isn’t easy to find upcoming events on the City’s website. Shatoyia wanted to find a more interactive way to display information about upcoming Black History Month events.

THE IDEA:

Using Jotform, Shatoyia was able to create an interactive Black History Month page specific to the City of Bloomington. There she could share information, photos, and even a digital calendar with all the events in a more dynamic format than the City’s main website allowed. The Jotform site she created (https://sites.google.com/bloomington.in.gov/cobbhm ) can be saved as a link on one’s computer or as an emblem on one’s tablet or phone for easy access. This creation provided a quick and easy way for interested residents to follow along with new information and register for events on the go. For instance, the website and app hosted the nomination form for Outstanding Black Leader, as well as ticket purchases for the City’s Gala. With so many people already on their phones, CFRD met residents where they were to make it easier for residents to learn about and attend Black History Month events. 

THE COST 

Jotform is an open source software, but the free version has limitations (only 100 submissions per month in response to a survey or event registration, for instance). CFRD ended up purchasing the “Professional” version for $18/month. These funds are coming from CFRD’s Safe and Civil City Budget, but the cost is viewed as a necessity if the City wants residents to nominate, register and give feedback on surveys. Jotform allows CFRD to keep track of many applications in one place, and it partners seamlessly with Google.

THE BENEFITS

By creating a Black History Month website and app on Jotform, CFRD could more easily upload videos and photos to celebrate the month’s events and achievements. CFRD plans to use the site and app moving forward for more causes beyond Black History Month promotion. Given the Pandemic, CFRD has had to start over in terms of recruitment of residents and citizen engagement, and this app/website innovation has helped them do so. CFRD prides itself on using technology to its advantage and making it easier for community members to communicate and access resources and information. Use of the Jotform app allows CFRD to reach curious and involved people, and though engaging these residents through an app is just one piece of a greater strategy, it helped Black History Month 2022 reach comparable numbers to pre-pandemic celebrations. 

Metadata

City Department(s): Community and Family Resources

City Point of Contact: Shatoyia Moss, Safe & Civil City Director 

Partner(s): N/A

Partner(s) Point(s) of Contact: N/A

Type of Innovation: Technical/Software, New Service 

Date Implemented: November 2021 - February 2022