Overview
The Refuge Lapeer is a 501(c)(3) in Lapeer, Michigan that has offered temporary shelter, warm meals and a caring welcome to neighbors facing homelessness since 2002. Its seasonal shelter program is hosted by partner churches, and alongside it the Refuge provides meals, showers and laundry, housing help, life-skills coaching and homelessness prevention.
The Challenge
The site has two very different visitors: someone who needs help tonight, and someone who wants to give, volunteer or bring their church on as a partner. Donations had to be easy to make once or monthly, a specific campaign (a van to take guests to the host churches) needed its own page, and the small staff had to be able to post events, news and financial reports without calling a developer.
Our Solution
We built a monorepo with three parts. The public Astro site leads with Get Help and Donate side by side and keeps the phone number on the first screen. A Fastify API on Postgres runs Stripe Checkout for one-time and monthly gifts, gives recurring donors a link to manage their own giving, and takes volunteer, contact and newsletter sign-ups. A React admin lets staff publish events, news, church partners and financial reports, and upload photos, which the public site reads through the API.
Key Features
Results
Built with
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