Three Fort Worth app developers have transformed what was an app for entertainment into a tool to help service workers across the state not only find a job but find COVID-19 testing centers and blood drives.
Hundreds of listings in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio are compiled in one app, based on the user's location.
It's called “Chibo,” which means food in Italian. Still in its early stages of development, the app was initially geared towards quickly finding local events, festivals, restaurant specials and happy hours in one's area.
The app's vision and purpose has changed dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Developers Vy Tran, Dom Alvaro and Nick Jose came together with a different vision: A stronger focus on serving their community. That vision has quickly expanded outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“Instead of providing events and things to do, we repurposed the app to show jobs that are happening around the area,” Chibo cofounder Vy Tran said.
“When you see people around you being impacted, the question is, what do you do to help them? I was in a position where I could do something, and we just went about and did it,” Chibo cofounder, Nick Jose said. “Most of the people who are affected are your service industry workers, and there is not a one-stop shop for them to go in and find jobs.”
“What we're trying to do is simplify the process,” Chibo cofounder Dom Alvaro said. “And that's basically how the events populated into jobs, and so that's how we basically transitioned fairly easily.”
One distinguishing feature of Chibo is that local job postings are centered around the user.
The app is free and ready to use with hundreds of active job listings, COVID-19 testing centers and any active blood drives in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
Right now it only works for iOS users, but Chibo developers said an Android version of the app is in the works.
To download now in the app, click here.
