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Long-time Redwood City resident Jerome Madigan said he may have created the perfect tool to spur community involvement in a mobile-first era. The civic-minded entrepreneur launched HeartCity on August 29, an app that aggregates local volunteer opportunities and allows users to sign up for events while scrolling profiles of like-minded volunteers and engaging in discussions.
Madigan’s foray into the tech domain began during an event at First Baptist Church in San Carlos, where he also works as a worship and outreach pastor.
“We were discussing trying to find different opportunities in the community to serve…and it was a little difficult. It didn’t seem like there was any central, cohesive kind of place to find these,” Madigan said.
“It was sort of in that moment that I had a vision for an app that had all of the opportunities on a map view around you, that you’d be able to find quickly and easily volunteer,” Madigan said.
And four years later, with the help of COO Dave Bradley and a local team of developers, he has made that vision into a tangible reality where app users can easily find volunteer gigs they are passionate about, sign up with just one click, and make some new connections.
HeartCity’s initial rollout populated over 40 opportunities, predominantly on the mid-Peninsula. While the majority of participating organizations are currently based in Redwood City, Madigan is hoping HeartCity will gain traction beyond California and eventually become a trusted resource for nonprofits to recruit volunteers and verify hours.
Organizations also have the option to leverage their visibility by customizing a listing with specific details about their operations, volunteer needs, and sponsorship opportunities. One participating organization that is looking forward to this aspect is Passion for the Loved, whose president, Daniel Torunian, is excited to move from a “word of mouth” recruiting model to having further reach through the digital sign-up process.
Passion for the Loved’s work involves providing counseling, mentoring, and spiritual guidance to the incarcerated and connecting them to services after their release to reduce recidivism. Torunian, who is also on the Redwood City Policy Advisory Committee, has worked with the nonprofit for nine years alongside 15 volunteers, who regularly visit correctional facilities across San Mateo County.
Torunian said that their current recruitment method is not scalable, and attracting more volunteers would widen their influence to other facilities and counties.
“We believe that this model can be replicated…It’s not something that is just unique to San Mateo County,” Torunian said. “One of the many things that excites us about the HeartCity app – as it continues to mature and expand – is it will allow us to take this program and export it to other cities and counties as well”.
Along with creating a call to action for service projects, Torunian also believes HeartCity will give organizations the ability to better identify volunteers that are suitable for their type of work, as well as find businesses to help sponsor events.
The types of volunteer opportunities currently displayed on the app range from helping facilitate activities at a Dia de los Muertos event through the Redwood City Parks and Arts Foundation to being a food runner at the Belmont Farmers Market.
Project manager Vicky Lanzone from Street Life Ministries, a featured nonprofit that serves meals to the unhoused six times a week, is hopeful that HeartCity will help fill a gap for their own volunteer drivers. Lanzone said the role requires training, which she is happy to facilitate, and involves driving food to the sites where meals are served.
“We have a few trained positions that we’re always looking for people for.”
For specific roles found on HeartCity, users are required to reach out to the organization via the app for more information.
And while the servers for Street Life Ministries are currently scheduled weeks in advance, Lanzone likes how the real-time capabilities of the app would facilitate finding last-minute help.
“Typically, when a group falls through, it falls through that day. So I could see it working for those scenarios,” she said.
Along with selecting a map or list view specific to location, users can also browse updates from volunteers on a discussion board and populate their profile with optional details like relationship status, birthday, and contact info – allowing them to socialize outside the volunteer gig.
While Madigan’s own public commitment to the community has included serving on Redwood City’s Housing and Human Concerns Committee, a city council run in 2022, and being a minister for various faith-based organizations, HeartCity does not affiliate with any particular religion or political party. “HeartCity’s mission is simply to help locals fall in love with serving their community,” he said.
Ultimately, Madigan hopes users will get physically involved in service work and make some meaningful connections along the way.
“I hope that it increases civic engagement and community service across the board,” Madigan said. “My goal is to make it worldwide.” To download the app, visit https://heartcity.app/.
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