Black Woman Fighting Breast Cancer Creates App To Help People Accept Assistance In Their Time Of Need

When your whole world turns upside down due to an unforeseen diagnosis, it can be difficult to know how to move forward. In addition to that, it can be overwhelming to respond to the support you receive from loved ones during that time. That is why Ayanna Smith, a tech entrepreneur and mother of two currently fighting breast cancer, ideated the app Journey Together. The app aims to help individuals going through a life crisis consolidate all of their support and access it in a single place. With it organized, you can better respond to family and friends and follow up on their offers to help in a myriad of ways. There are multiple platforms that help you address singular types of support but few that bring them all together. For instance, GoFundMe helps you raise funds while Ianacare helps you delegate tasks but those spaces don’t do both. Journey Together will be everything in one.

“I am fortunate to have a mighty network of friends, family, neighbors and colleagues who are always quick to jump into action whenever I need support but there have been times when receiving help has felt like work, despite obvious intentions,” says Smith. “Journey Together is my contribution to the care community, and to people like me who want to receive help that is thoughtful, intentional and on their own terms.”

Types of support people can receive using Journey Together include phone call and visitation notifications, which tell people when it’s convenient for them to reach out to their loved one. Status updates are also included, which can save the person the stress of having to repeatedly update loved ones, one after the other, on how they’re feeling or how things are playing out. Wish lists are available to address tangible needs, as well as resource recommendations, and personal notes in the app. Finally, users can volunteer to help the recipient fulfill tasks, be it grocery shopping, daycare pick up, cleaning up or any other type of support they need. 

To use the Journey Together app, the recipient or a caretaker must create a “solidarity co-op” and send invitations to loved ones so they can join and support.  As for fees, the app is free for the recipient of it the assistance for the first 25 people. If you have 26-100 users, there is a one-time fee of $5.99, and co-ops with unlimited users have a one-time fee of $9.99.

Journey Together will be available to download in November, amid the holiday season, when love and support may be most beneficial to those in need of it. Learn more about the app at journeytogetherapp.com.