Offering population the chance to apply to a process, that included an in person application, documentation, lifestyle and proof of income to meet the program eligibility standards. Until mid-2010, it was made using paper forms, and paper forms, only, submitted individually, for every new house a family would be interested.
In 2016, the city introduced Dahlia to the population of San Francisco, creating an online process that previously did not existed, making the stressful journey of finding an affordable home a lot easier:
Check suitable options based on your household income
Such as neighborhood, school proximity, senior housing & more
At any time, to speed up the process
Listings are now shown in a shorter format, containing information on lottery preferences and eligibility criteria, clearly spelled out before application. Focusing on relevant information, user identifies valuable opportunities at a glance.
Using simplified language and personal approach to explain housing preferences, convincing applicants to take their time to understand the process, while showcasing unit's features and amenities.
Applicants can save their progress and continue again when they’re ready, being able to upload documents and check the status of their application whenever they want.
As soon as an applicant completes their application, they receive their lottery number digitally. Once the application is submitted, they receive their lottery number digitally,
User can opt in for SMS, mail and e-mail updates on the lottery results, application changes, similar properties and reminders.
When lottery results are posted, the applicant returns the website to check their number, and sees where they placed in the lottery.
If user wins a lottery, an email is automatically send to them, with the great news, and instructions on what to expect next.
Both population and county saw benefits in the online application, and the successful, open source initiative has expanded to other counties, under the name of Bloom Project.
