glossary
Matching
The ask goes to people who are allowed to help and actually around. Not to a group chat of two hundred. Not to the whole city feed.
Who can even be considered
Current staff approval. Online. Suitable for the category you picked. Recently active. Not blocked by either person. That list is the gate. A neighbor who is offline, expired, or wrong for jump starts does not get a peek at your dead battery.
How far, and how many
Up to ten eligible helpers may receive a short-lived offer. The first to accept gets the request. When both people have shared matching location, offers stay within about 10 km of the requester’s rounded area. The system uses that rounded area — not a pin on you. No-location requests can still be considered by suitable approved helpers.
What matching does not promise
It does not promise a helper is standing on Main Street at midnight. It does not promise a two-minute ETA. It does not pay anyone. If nobody accepts within two hours, the request closes. Distance is real. Winter is real. A public meeting place is still the default.
Questions people actually ask
Is matching a public bid board?
No. Eligible helpers receive a private offer. There is no public ranking of who needed help.
Can I choose a specific helper?
The first eligible helper to accept gets the request. You then chat privately with that person. Matching is not a catalog you browse.
Does leaving the app stop matching?
For helpers: going offline, leaving the app, accepting a request, or going quiet removes you from active matching. You are not on duty by default.
Keep going
product
How Help Me works
Ask in a sentence. Approved helpers nearby see it. One accepts. You chat privately and meet in public. Four steps — that is the entire ask.
glossary
A help request
A Help Me request is a short, private ask from the live map. Eligible approved helpers may get an offer. There is no public feed of your need.
glossary
Online status
Approved Help Me helpers choose when to go online. Offline, leaving the app, accepting, or going quiet removes you from active matching.
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Approved helper
An approved helper on Help Me has current, staff-reviewed identity evidence. Anyone can join. Not everyone can help. This is not a background check.
glossary
One live request
Help Me allows only one live help request at a time. If nobody accepts within two hours, it closes and you can try again.
glossary
Coarse area
A Help Me coarse area is the ~500 m rounded region used for live help and matching. It is the map object. It is not your exact coordinates.
Help Me is a community app for adults in Fargo–Moorhead. It is not a K–12 student program, not a youth chat, and not campus police.