About MeetaNeed
Where needs and neighbors meet.
Why this exists
MeetaNeed is a community platform that connects people who need something with people who can help. That's the whole pitch in one sentence. The longer story has been a long time coming.
The idea behind MeetaNeed traces back to 2007. My middle son was a new cadet at West Point that summer, and I was following an online forum where senior parents answered the questions freshman parents had. A-Day was coming up - Acceptance Day, the ceremony that closes out Cadet Basic Training - and a ball was planned to celebrate. A mother posted on the forum that she had saved just enough to make the trip to the academy for the ceremony, but she didn't have a thing to wear and wished she did. Another mother replied: she had a red dress, and the first mother was welcome to borrow it.
That moment stuck with me. Somebody had a need. Somebody else had exactly what was needed. A forum put them in the same room, and the whole thing happened without money changing hands. The internet was already good at putting buyers and sellers in the same room, but it wasn't doing much for neighbors who simply needed help and neighbors who simply wanted to give it. The connective power was there. It just wasn't being pointed at this kind of help.
The other thread woven into this platform's heart is family. My brother Moe and his wife Jean have two sons living with Batten disease, a degenerative neurological condition that has reduced once-energetic, intelligent kids to wheelchairs and full-time care. One of the boys has since passed away. Watching Moe and Jean give their lives to their boys, and seeing what it means when a community shows up for a family in that kind of need, made it impossible to keep this idea on a shelf any longer. You can read the fuller story on the blog.
Roughly two decades between first envisioning this platform and bringing it to life means MeetaNeed isn't a startup idea. It's something I've carried for a long time, and it's finally being built because the tools to build it are now within reach.
What we believe
A few simple ideas shape how this platform is built and how it should feel to use.
Help goes both ways
The same person might post a need this month and answer one next month. Posting a need shouldn't feel like begging. It should feel like raising a hand in a room full of neighbors.
No middleman
The platform doesn't process payments, doesn't take a cut, doesn't broker deals. When someone needs a ride and someone else can give one, our job ends at the introduction. What happens next is between two human beings.
Specific beats abstract
"A ride to chemotherapy" beats "transportation assistance." "A winter coat for a 7-year-old" beats "seasonal clothing support." The specificity is what makes it real, and what makes it easy for the right person to step up.
Who's behind this
MeetaNeed is stewarded personally, not as a business. The plan is to file for 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit recognition once the four pillars are demonstrably working.
Ernie St. Gelais
Founder & Steward
I'm Ernie St. Gelais. MeetaNeed is something I've wanted to see exist for a long time, and I'm grateful to be the one finally putting it together. Sitez Incorporated, my company, handles the technical hosting and maintenance, but MeetaNeed isn't a Sitez product. It's a charitable project, free to everyone, with no plans to ever charge anyone for using it.
The platform is built to grow community by community as it finds traction. Wherever you live, if there are neighbors with needs and neighbors with help to offer, MeetaNeed is built for you.
This isn't a one-person job. If any of this resonates and you'd like to help shape what comes next, whether that's curating stories for the blog, helping moderate listings, spreading the word in your own community, or something else entirely, I'd love to hear from you. Reach out and let's talk.
There's a need waiting, or there's something you have to give. Either way, you're welcome here.