Unit Connect: A Veteran-First App for Nearby VA Support, Local Community, and AI-Powered Next Steps

The Community

I built Unit Connect for the U.S. veteran community, including veterans, family members, and local supporters helping with care navigation and connection.

The main problem this app addresses is fragmented access to help. Veterans often need healthcare, benefits guidance, and peer community at the same time, but those resources are usually spread across different tools.

What I Built

I built a complete MVP web app with three core experiences:

1) Find Support Near Me

• Search by ZIP or GPS location
• Live VA Facilities API integration (server-side only)
• Filters for:
  • VA health facilities / clinics
  • Vet Centers
  • benefits offices
• Actionable result cards: call, directions, website, save to “My Plan”

2) Find Veteran Community

• Community-powered local directory (Prisma + SQLite/Postgres-ready)
• Search by city/state/ZIP/tags
• Listing detail page
• Submit group flow (PENDING moderation state)
• Report listing flow
• Admin moderation page:
  • PENDING | APPROVED | REJECTED
  • VERIFIED_ORG | VERIFIED_COMMUNITY

3) Mission Buddy (AI Assistant)

• Turns user needs into practical next steps:
  • top contacts + rationale
  • call scripts
  • document checklist
  • 7-day connection plan
• Uses retrieved resources when available
• Includes crisis guardrails (988 Veterans Crisis Line response)
• Includes non-medical/legal disclaimer
• Falls back gracefully when external AI quota is unavailable

Privacy/Safety

• No sensitive personal data storage
• No location history storage
• Client-side “My Plan” only
• Server-side key handling (no API keys exposed to browser)

Demo

unit-connect-app.vercel.app

Code

DesignByDevDan / Unit-Connect-App

Unit Connect

Unit Connect is a Next.js MVP that helps U.S. Veterans:

• Find nearby VA support resources (VA health facilities, Vet Centers, benefits offices)
• Discover local veteran community groups
• Generate an AI-assisted "Next Steps" plan using retrieved resources

Stack

• Next.js 14 (App Router) + TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Prisma + PostgreSQL (recommended for deployment)
• Zod validation
• OpenAI API (server-side)
• Vitest unit tests

Features

• Support search (/support)
  • ZIP or lat/long + radius search
  • VA Facilities API proxy (/api/va/search) with server-side apikey header
  • Filter by VA health / Vet Center / benefits
  • Save resources to local "My Plan" (localStorage only)
• Community search (/community):
  • Search approved listings by city/state/zip/tags
  • Sort by closest/newest/verified
  • Listing details page
  • Report listing flow
• Community submission (/community/submit):
  • Creates PENDING listing
• Admin moderation (/admin):
  • Password-protected via ADMIN_PASSWORD
  • Approve/reject pending listings
  • Toggle verification (VERIFIED_ORG / VERIFIED_COMMUNITY)
  • Review and resolve reports
• …

View on GitHub

How I Built It

• Next.js 14+ (App Router) + TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Prisma
• Zod validation
• OpenAI API (server-side route)
• Vitest for unit testing

Architecture

• Provider layer:
  • VAFacilitiesProvider
  • CommunityDirectoryProvider
  • TwoOneOneProvider (stubbed adapter)
• Normalized shared Resource model for UI and assistant retrieval
• ResourceTriage ranking + crisis signal detection

Build Notes

• Implemented robust VA lookup flow with ZIP/GPS reliability handling
• Added graceful fallback plan if AI API is unavailable
• Added moderation workflow to keep community listings safe and useful

Thanks for reading!