HelpMaps Venezuela · DocumentationDOCUMENTATION · HELPMAPS
Usage guide
HelpMaps Venezuela does two things: it helps you find help, and it helps you offer it. You don't need to read all of this. The first two sections are enough to use the map; the rest is here for when you need it.
The essentials in one minute
The map shows help points: shelters, donation points, community kitchens and civic initiatives. Each point says what it receives and what it needs right now.
- Search by name or municipality in the bar at the top.
- Tap a point on the map, or in the points panel, to see its full card.
- The card has directions, the phone number and WhatsApp when the point has them.
- The “need help” strip opens the list of points asking for something today.
Before you travel: Call first. The information is reported by the points themselves and by the field team, and although it is dated, it does not guarantee space or supplies. If the card warns that nobody has confirmed the point in several days, that call is essential.
If you need help
Filter by estado to bring the map to your area, and by point type to see only what you need: somewhere to sleep, a kitchen, a place that gives out what you are missing.
The location button: It centres the map where you are. Your location is used on your phone only, to move the map: it is never sent or stored.
Point status: Green open, amber full, red closed. No label means nobody has confirmed it and we do not assume it is open: we would rather say we don't know than send you to a locked door.
If you want to help
The needs list is the shortcut: it tells you what is missing and where, without going point by point. Every card can be shared over WhatsApp, Telegram or a link, and can also generate a social image with the need and the date inside it.
Ways to help that are not money: Many points, civic initiatives especially, ask for volunteering, trades, in-kind donations or simply for the word to be spread. They appear as tags on the card.
A point is missing from the map: Tell us from the “Contribute” button. A member of the team reviews it before publishing: it does not appear on the map right away, and that delay is on purpose.
Without a connection
The app keeps the last data it loaded on your phone. If you lose signal the map still opens with it, and warns you at the top that it may be out of date.
If you send something and the connection drops halfway, it is not lost: it stays queued and goes out on its own when the signal returns.
You can install it from your browser menu (“Add to home screen”). Installed, it opens faster and works with no data.
Language
You change the language from your menu, the circle with your initial at the top right, and the app remembers your choice. If you share a link, whoever opens it sees it in their own language or in the one you add to the link.
What we do with your data
What you search for never leaves your phone: filtering happens in your browser and we do not record who or what you look for. If you write to us through the form, your contact is used only to confirm the information and is never published.
Need something or want to collaborate? info@helpmapvzla.net