Qbase Wins Department Of Veterans Affairs “Project REACH" Challenge

Qbase Mobile App Helps Caregivers for Nation's Homeless Access Local Services, Resources.

Qbase LLC, a leading provider of information technology services, business intelligence solutions, and geographic search technologies, is pleased to announce that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected the Qbase Homeless REACH mobile application as the winner of their Project REACH (Real-time Electronic Access for Caregivers and the Homeless) initiative. Project REACH – a collaborative effort between the VA, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation - is dedicated to securing a real-time, mobile application to simplify and speed access to locality-based information, services, and resources for the homeless and the caregivers and caseworkers who serve them.

“Qbase is greatly honored to be chosen by the VA to support their efforts to seek innovative ways to battle the homeless epidemic,” says Qbase Senior Vice President, Gary Sofo. “As a technology organization, it’s very rewarding for us to have the opportunity to focus our skills and development energies on a worthy social cause - the elimination of veterans’ homelessness. “

Qbase Homeless REACH was selected by the VA after a lengthy and rigorous evaluation process that began over a year ago. As one of five finalists, Qbase Homeless REACH was ultimately chosen for its easy access to essential information needed by those caring for the homeless -- health care, housing, food sources, employment, and counseling, among other vital services, through the use of advanced mobile technology.

Jonah Czerwinski, director of VA’s Center for Innovation (VACI) said, “The Qbase Homeless REACH application received the highest score from the judges who evaluated all five finalist submissions based on factors sustainability, scalability, user experience, and completeness of information. We were especially impressed with the robustness of the application, the seamless integration across multiple device platforms, and the sheer amount of accurate information provided by the app.”

Qbase Homeless REACH provides software applications which are accessible on the web, smart phones and tablet devices. It is a flexible solution that will enable the people who care for the homeless to quickly and easily find essential services within their proximity. Qbase Homeless REACH can be accessed here, or can be downloaded for free from Apple iTunes or Google Play.

“Based on the user’s location, Qbase Homeless REACH provides real-time information about local services and resources for the homeless directly from mobile devices or the web,” explained Josh Temkin, Vice President of Healthcare at Qbase. “Our initial application imported and geoencoded over 100,000 distinct points of interest including locations for shelters, facilities, healthcare, mental healthcare, kitchens/food banks, legal services, and transportation services. We are already working to expand that reach with our next version, and subsequent releases.”

Adds Jim Horner, Senior Software Engineer for Qbase Homeless REACH, “When we started this task, we immediately noticed many data quality issues from the public domain sources we were accessing. Using our in-house Qbase Data Discovery and Qbase Data Transformer products, we were able to quickly identify these issues and cleanse the data to improve accuracy and reliability of the query results delivered to users.”

Qbase is donating all award money from the Project REACH competition to the Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Memorial Foundation in memory of Lieutenant Christopher E. Mosko (a family friend of a Qbase employee), and to the memory of our nation’s fallen military heroes.

About Qbase, LLC
Qbase, LLC is a worldwide provider of innovative decision support technologies and information technology professional services to support the mission-critical operations of our clients. For more information, visit http://www.4qbase.com