About Hartford Navigator

Why it exists

If you are looking for help with rent, food, or healthcare in Hartford, the answer usually means calling 211, sitting through a phone menu, and hoping the counselor knows the one agency that fits your situation. Information is scattered across agency websites, 211 PDFs, and word of mouth. Spanish-speaking residents have it worse — most existing directories are English-only.

Navigator exists to make the first 10 minutes of searching not painful.

What it does

• Browse or search local resources

  Food, housing, healthcare, cash, legal, immigration, and more — verified and updated on a rolling basis.

• Ask the AI assistant

  Explain your situation in plain language and get recommendations with phone numbers, addresses, and a link to each resource. Works in English and Spanish.

• Take the eligibility quiz

  A 7-step questionnaire filters resources to ones you likely qualify for, with a plain explanation of why each was matched.

• Track your outreach

  Save resources you have contacted and note what happened (waitlisted, connected, denied) so you do not have to remember on your own.

How it works

The AI assistant is powered by Claude Sonnet 4.6. Instead of stuffing every resource into the prompt, the model calls search tools that query the Navigator directory on demand — so it can refine a search based on what you tell it, and never invent resources that do not exist. Every recommendation links back to a verified entry in the directory.

Privacy

Navigator does not require an account. The tracker uses an anonymous token stored on your device, synced to our server without any personal information. We do not sell or share data. Full details in our privacy policy.

Part of a family

Navigator also runs in New Haven and Bridgeport, with the same approach: a free, bilingual directory of local resources, an AI assistant grounded in real listings, and an eligibility quiz.

Who built this

Navigator is a community project, not affiliated with any government agency. If you spot out-of-date information, use the Suggest an Update page or email us directly. Code is on GitHub.