Help MeHelp Me

how-to

How to ask for help without an audience

You do not owe a Facebook group a speech. One sentence is enough. Here is the whole path from tap to done.

Before you open the map

If anyone is in danger, injured, or watching a crime, call 911. Help Me is for the stuck day: a dead battery, a walk to the lot, a printer, a sofa that will not turn the stair, directions to a hall you have never seen.

You need an account — email or Sign in with Apple — and an iPhone on iOS 15 or later. The app is on TestFlight. Only one live request at a time.

The four taps

Open the live map. Choose I need help. Pick a category. Add a sentence if you want one. A public meeting-place label is optional; a category-only request is still readable to a helper.

  • Ask: one sentence is enough. You are not applying for a grant.
  • Wait: eligible approved helpers nearby may get a short-lived private offer. There is no public feed of your request.
  • Chat: the first eligible helper to accept opens a private thread. Nobody else is in it.
  • Meet: public place by default. Exact location is off until you consent after they accept.

What helpers actually see

They see a coarse area of about 500 meters, not your driveway. Matching considers approved helpers who are online, suitable for the category, recently active, and not blocked by either of you. When both people have shared matching location, offers stay within about 10 km of that rounded area.

If nobody accepts within two hours, the request closes. Try again. Do not wait on an app offer if the situation has become an emergency.

Finish it like a neighbor

Meet in public. Do the thing. Both people confirm completion. Exact location sharing ends. You can leave a review. Report or block if anything felt wrong — you do not have to be polite about a bad feeling.

Questions people actually ask

Can I ask without sharing my location?

Yes. No-location requests can still be considered by suitable approved helpers. Approximate area is the usual map view. Exact location is opt-in after someone accepts.

Who sees the request?

Eligible approved helpers who receive a private offer. Not a timeline. Not people you did not match with.

What if nobody accepts?

The request closes after two hours. You can post again. There is no guaranteed response time and no paid ETA.

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.