Empower Simcoe supports residents across its community with housing, health, and educational services — but reaching the people who needed those services was harder than it should have been. 247 Labs built a custom mobile app, delivered on both iOS and Android, that put Empower Simcoe’s full service catalogue, community event calendar, and real-time updates directly into residents’ hands. The result: community engagement up 45%, resource accessibility up 30%, and a measurable rise in event participation.

Empower Simcoe wanted to improve community outreach and engagement, but its existing process for accessing services was inefficient. Residents had no simple way to discover housing, health, or educational resources, stay informed about community events, or find services near them. The organization needed more than a directory — it needed a solution that made resources genuinely accessible in the moments residents needed them, kept the community informed proactively, and strengthened participation across its programs. Whatever was built also had to work with the systems Empower Simcoe already ran, not around them.

247 Labs built a React Native mobile app giving users easy access to Empower Simcoe’s services — housing, health, and educational resources — in one place. The app combined service listings, a community event calendar, and push notifications so residents stay informed of important updates without having to go looking for them. Crucially, the app was integrated with Empower Simcoe’s existing database, ensuring users receive real-time information and can easily find services near them. A companion WordPress web presence rounded out the digital experience across mobile and desktop.

Live on both the App Store and Google Play, the app changed how residents connect with Empower Simcoe — and became a lasting channel between the organization and the community it serves.