Justin M. Kim and Michael W. Lai were in the process of developing an app that allowed users to log their most intimate mental health concerns and join support groups.
Enter: COVID-19.
Pictures and videos of overwhelmed health care workers on the front lines flooded social media. Kim, a Brown University senior, and Lai, a Hofstra University student, pivoted Cress Health to provide support for their new target audience of the nurses, doctors and other medical staff treating COVID-19 patients.
The duo earned several grants for their development journey, including financial assistance from Brown’s Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship and the Clinton Foundation’s Student Action Fund.
In total, they received approximately $45,000 in grants for Cress Health.
The app helps users by connecting them to group chats with peers and personal journaling to track mental wellness. Users will also receive reports that summarize trends in their emotional and mental health.
“These health care workers are the superheroes of this pandemic,” said Lai. “We feel a duty to do whatever we can to support them in return.”
Cress is also working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help provide the app and additional wellness resources to more refugees in Kenya.