As the holidays ramp up, and a number of events and activities take place across the city, a new app promises to keep track of it all. The HUTT Community Hub created and managed by LIFE, the non Profit based International Foundation for Education Inc. in Trenton, was developed and built during the pandemic to help Trentonians find recourses across the city.  Nikki Enders, Community Outreach and Operations Director, explains that it is meant to help those in the city.

“We started the app during COVID because it was a critical time and people needed a lot of resources and not a lot of information,” Enders said. She explains that within Trenton, there are many resources and many places for people to go, but no directions on how to get there. “There was no way in the city of Trenton one direct place to go and get information, so we were having a conversation, and we were saying, we should create an app.”

This App was a long-term idea for Mien Patrick Scott Mombo III, Executive Director and the app designer. “It’s always been an idea. this is something that I have done before, and it’s morphed into this what it is right now,” Mombo said. 

The pair worked tirelessly at the beginning of the pandemic to set it up and get the information. Mombo was the designer and Enders was the community advocate, gathering the information to put into the App.

The Hutt App is designed with features for users to explore the city from an events calendar to resources for everything from food access to hotlines for mental wellness. There is even a section devoted to youth opportunities within the city. 

“We are just trying to…give people in the community access to the information that we have, “Mombo said. “This information is not useful if you can not share with somebody else… So that’s one of the things that’s one of our biggest goals is to whatever information you have is to be able to get it to somebody else.” 

Though there is a different connection the two creators of the app share, their relationship to Liberia, both Enders and Mombo are Liberian immigrants, and part of the app’s design is influenced by the “Palava Hut,” a communal meeting place where people gather and discuss important issues, resources, and opportunities that impact the community. LIFE Inc. has created scholar programs here in Trenton and Liberia, helping children and families achieve their goals. 

“(Our goal is) to increase exposure and equitable access to educational resources and opportunities for young people and families,” Mombo said. “People who are living in under-resourced and then developed, you know, low-income communities. we accomplish that goal by increasing their exposure and equitable access to resources.” 

You can download the HUTT App on Google Play or the App Store. https://www.facebook.com/groups/thehutcommunityhub/