We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Robert Washington. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Robert below.

Robert, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Yes, our business, Shelter Share, serves an often-overlooked and critically underserved community: nonprofit organizations and mutual aid groups working on the front lines of housing insecurity and homelessness.

Many of these groups operate with limited resources, outdated tools, and siloed communication systems, making it hard to collaborate or scale their impact. One example that sticks with us is a small grassroots mutual aid group in a mid-sized city that was helping families find temporary shelter after being displaced. They were using spreadsheets, group chats, and word-of-mouth to coordinate beds, donations, and volunteers. It was chaotic, and often people in need fell through the cracks simply because there was no central system.

That’s where Shelter Share stepped in. Our platform brings together nonprofits, shelters, and community organizations into one centralized, easy-to-use hub. We offer tools to track available resources like beds and supplies in real time, streamline communication, and reduce duplication of efforts. For that mutual aid group, using Shelter Share meant less time juggling spreadsheets and more time actually helping people—and families got off the streets faster.

We believe that housing is a human right, and we’re building the infrastructure to make grassroots and nonprofit efforts more efficient, more visible, and ultimately more impactful. By empowering those who are already doing the work, we’re helping build stronger safety nets for the most vulnerable.

Robert, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Shelter Share is a mission-driven platform designed to support nonprofits, mutual aid networks, and community organizations working in the housing insecurity and homelessness space. We exist to solve a problem that we personally encountered: while there are countless passionate people and organizations working to help those in crisis, there’s often a lack of tools to connect them, streamline their work, and scale their impact.

Our journey into this space wasn’t traditional—it was personal. After volunteering with mutual aid efforts during the pandemic, we saw how hard it was for groups to communicate across silos. One shelter had open beds, while another organization was scrambling to find space for a family. Resources were available—but coordination was a mess. These groups were using spreadsheets, emails, and chat apps to solve life-or-death problems. It wasn’t sustainable, and more importantly, it wasn’t fair to the people who needed help.

That’s when we realized there was a huge opportunity to build better infrastructure for community care.

Shelter Share offers a collaborative digital platform that connects shelters, nonprofits, mutual aid groups, and other service providers. It allows them to:
• Track real-time availability of beds, supplies, or services
• Coordinate referrals and share resources seamlessly
• Communicate securely and efficiently across organizations
• Access tools designed specifically for small orgs with limited tech capacity

What sets us apart is that we’re not just a tech solution—we’re community-built, empathy-driven, and focused on equity. We listen to our partners. We co-create with them. We build for the real world, not the boardroom.

One of the things we’re most proud of is how quickly we’ve been able to support grassroots orgs who were previously invisible in larger systems. We’ve helped shelters reduce intake friction, enabled street outreach teams to act faster, and even connected mutual aid volunteers who had never worked together before. That’s powerful. That’s the future we’re trying to build.

For anyone learning about us for the first time, here’s what we want you to know: Shelter Share is here to amplify the work you’re already doing. We exist to make community care easier, more efficient, and more connected—because when we work together, we can make sure no one gets left behind.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There was a point in our journey when everything could’ve come to a stop. Our first version of the Shelter Share app broke down—it just didn’t function the way we needed it to. We had poured everything into that build, and when it failed, it felt like the whole mission was in jeopardy. I could’ve quit right then. Honestly, I thought about it.

But what pulled me through wasn’t just grit—it was the people who believed in the vision. Richard and Jennifer Chance from Green Country Media stood by me when things were shaky. They saw the potential and helped me move forward when I didn’t know what the next step looked like. Their support, encouragement, and belief helped breathe life back into the project.

Instead of giving up, we rebuilt. We came back with a stronger, more effective app—something that could truly serve the needs of shelters and community organizations in real time. That moment taught me that resilience isn’t always about pushing through alone. Sometimes it’s about leaning on the right people and trusting that the mission is bigger than the setbacks.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Originally, Shelter Share started with a very specific focus: helping communities locate and access storm shelters during emergencies. It was a pressing issue in several regions, especially in areas frequently hit by tornadoes and severe weather. We built tools to help people find safe shelter quickly and help local emergency responders better manage their resources.

But as we worked more closely with local governments, nonprofits, and mutual aid groups, we started noticing a deeper, more constant crisis—housing insecurity and homelessness. People weren’t just looking for shelter during storms; they were looking for shelter every day. Families sleeping in cars. Seniors cycling through temporary housing. Outreach workers overwhelmed by calls with nowhere to send people.

We realized we were solving the wrong problem—or, rather, only part of it.

So we made a bold pivot: from storm-specific shelters to all types of community shelter and support services. That meant expanding our vision and redesigning the platform to help coordinate emergency shelters, transitional housing, safe havens, and essential resources like food, hygiene, and transportation.

It wasn’t an easy shift. It meant learning an entirely new landscape, building deeper relationships with frontline nonprofits, and making sure our technology could handle more nuanced, human-centered data. But it was the right move—and honestly, the most meaningful one we could’ve made.

That pivot allowed us to become a true partner to the people doing the hardest, most important work in their communities. It turned Shelter Share from a storm-season tool into a year-round lifeline.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ShelterShare.io
• Instagram: @sheltersharewithme
• Facebook: @sheltershareoklahoma
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-washington-7855984a