City of San Antonio - Emergency Housing Assistance
Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic prompted municipalities to enforce economic lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders, Edward Gonzales, the Director of San Antonio’s Neighborhood & Housing Services Department (NHSD), faced a significant challenge. During the period from the third to the fourth week of March, applications for rental, mortgage, utility, and relocation assistance surged from approximately 57 per week to over 2,000. These applicants were primarily among San Antonio’s most vulnerable residents, living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which translates to about $25-40 per person per day. Challenge: Due to physical distancing measures, applicants could no longer submit their applications in person without risking exposure for themselves and the city's case workers. The existing process required individual caseworker contact with each applicant to assess eligibility, issue applications, and process submissions along with supporting documents. With the significant increase in application volume, the program, its staff, and funding were becoming increasingly overwhelmed. Results: Kinetech responded swiftly, working throughout the Easter Weekend to launch a beta version just seven days later (on April 10th). By 10:00 AM the following day, applicants had initiated over 1,100 applications, averaging nearly 100 submissions per hour, or one every minute. In response to the rising demand, city officials expanded funding for rental, mortgage, and utility assistance to $100 million. The city chose Kinetech for its expertise in rapid application development, agile software processes, systems integration, and Mendix, the leading low-code development platform. Kinetech holds the designation of Platform Partner with Mendix, the highest recognition awarded due to our excellence in low-code development.