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Help for homeless teenagers with blockchain technology

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Cinthia Buchheister Europe Press Office, Germany,Berlin
25 October 2018

A smartphone app with donation functionality is intended to help children and young people in need. Arup is taking on the project management and blockchain consulting for the product development.

Berlin-based KARUNA Sozialgenossenschaft eG is planning to equip its app, the MOKLI help finder, with a digital wallet. This enables the needy, without a bank account and without registration, to dispose of donations for specific aid offers and is the first time that blockchain technology is being used in Germany for the development of an emergency aid platform. It should offer maximum security and transparency. The international engineering and consulting company Arup is responsible for project management and blockchain consulting for the app development.

Emergency aid for young people

According to a study by the German Youth Institute (Deutsches Jugendinstitut) from 2015 to 2017, around 37,000 young people in Germany have no permanent residence. The MOKLI help finder was introduced at the beginning of last year to help them in their search for support. The app offers access to around 3,500 emergency aid facilities throughout Germany, including contact points for advice, emergency sleeping places and food banks. The offer of this app is now to be expanded by a digital wallet. The young people can use it to independently redeem donations immediately for aid such as a meal or a place to sleep in a local hostel.

No manipulation and no abuse thanks to blockchain technology

Blockchain technology should provide security and transparency. “It enables transactions to be stored in a digital and decentralised network,” explains Matthias Geipel, project manager and blockchain expert at Arup.

“

When used correctly, the blockchain technology enables a tamper-proof and direct transfer of values between people, businesses and even machines. This makes it a new tool for fundraising applications that could previously only run through trusted intermediaries. ” Portrait of Matthias Geipel Matthias Geipel Consultant

Arup will be coordinating the product development. With a profound understanding of KARUNA’s objectives and a comprehensive know-how in blockchain technology, we act as a mediator between our client and the technical developers to ensure a high-performance solution. The digital wallet is to go online by the beginning of 2020.

As one of the winning projects from the Google Impact Challenge 2018, the blockchain donation functionality will be financed by the prize money.

About Karuna Sozialgenossenschaft

KARUNA Sozialgenossenschaft eG brings together people who work with disadvantaged and homeless young people on an equal footing on future projects. KARUNA makes real and strategic participation of young people within the cooperative possible and brings them together with other people, regardless of age and status, who together with the “outside children” form a community with a sense of family.

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