HomeBridge

HomeBridge connects foster homes in North Metro Atlanta with neighbors who want to donate supplies or volunteer. The public browses homes and gives through each home's wish list. Verified foster homes log in to manage their listing, and an admin reviews new registrations.

Built with Next.js 14 (App Router), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Framer Motion, Lenis, Leaflet, Firebase Authentication and Firestore.

Run locally

npm install
npm run dev

Without Firebase keys the site runs on bundled sample data (login is disabled and shows a "Demo mode" notice).

Firebase setup (one time)

1. Create a project at console.firebase.google.com.

2. Build → Authentication → Get started → Email/Password → Enable.

3. Build → Firestore Database → Create database (production mode, a US region).

4. Project settings → General → Your apps → Web (</>): register an app and copy the config values into .env.local (see .env.example).

5. Authentication → Users → Add user: create the Sunshine Home demo login and an admin login. Put their emails in .env.local as DEMO_HOME_EMAIL and ADMIN_EMAIL (local only, never shipped to the browser).

6. Project settings → Service accounts → Generate new private key: save it in this folder as serviceAccount.json (git-ignored, never commit it).

7. Run:

   npm run setup
   

   Run npm run setup -- --dry-run first to preview. Setup gives the admin account a server-controlled admin role (a Firebase custom claim only the Admin SDK can set), publishes firestore.rules, creates the sample homes and impact counters, and links Sunshine Home to the demo login. It is safe to run again: it only creates missing data, and Sunshine Home is marked protected, so re-running setup, redeploying, or rebuilding never overwrites it. npm run setup -- --reset-samples restores the other four sample homes but still leaves Sunshine Home alone.

Deploy (Vercel)

1. Push this repo to a private GitHub repository.
2. In Vercel, Add New → Project → Import the repo.
3. Add every NEXT_PUBLIC_* variable from .env.local under Environment Variables (not ADMIN_EMAIL, DEMO_HOME_EMAIL, or FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT, which are only for local setup).
4. Deploy, then add the Vercel domain under Firebase Authentication → Settings → Authorized domains.

The site is unlisted: every page sends X-Robots-Tag: noindex and robots.txt disallows all crawlers.

Privacy by design

• Homes are shown by city or county only; map pins sit on city centers.
• Contact and volunteer forms go through the app; a home's email is never shown.
• Home photos are illustrative stock images of spaces (Unsplash), never children.
• Firestore rules let a foster home edit only its own listing and read only its own messages.
• Admin access is a server-set custom claim, not an email check; users cannot grant it to themselves.