HELPify Bulgaria: Bridging the Digital Divide to Empower Vulnerable Communities in Rural Tsenovo — An Impact Story from the Localized Innovation Fund
This impact story describes HELPify (Humanitarian Empowerment & Local Partnerships), an initiative led by the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) with support from the Canadian Red Cross’s Local Innovation Fund (LIF) in the rural municipality of Tsenovo, Ruse region, carried out between July and December 2024. It responded to the exclusion of vulnerable populations: older adults, people with limited formal education, people with disabilities, and refugees among the 86,000+ who fled to Bulgaria following the 2022 escalation of conflict in Ukraine — from fragmented and hard-to-navigate service information. The core innovation was a customized “one-stop shop” online platform, designed through targeted field research and built by local volunteers, organized into tabs covering medical services, social assistance, medical expertise, social activities, disaster response, and support for Ukrainian citizens, with one-click translation into Ukrainian and other languages.
Key findings and approach:
- A baseline survey of 274 residents across four villages (73% female; ages spanning 18–70+) confirmed that local service information was fragmented and identified priority needs in social, medical, and legal assistance.
- Respondents wanted an online platform but emphasized needing training to use it, so BRC adopted an accompaniment approach—demonstrating HELPify on screens and guiding users on their phones—to build digital confidence among older adults, newcomers, and people with disabilities.
- The initiative trained 15 new local volunteers (ages 25–65) and mobilized a network of local authorities, legal and medical professionals, and an IT partner, with BRC HQ providing technical guidance and the Ruse branch coordinating in the field.
Recommendations and PGI lessons learned:
- The baseline survey was instrumental in surfacing information gaps and enabling meaningful, contextually relevant co-design—particularly by women, many over 50 and retired.
- HELPify offers a sustainable, replicable model for empowering small communities, with potential to expand to new locations and integrate additional themes and services based on local needs.
- An intuitive platform with clear content demonstrated that individuals with limited digital literacy can use technology effectively when properly introduced and supported.
The story illustrates localization in practice — capacity strengthening and partnership — showing how digitalization and local empowerment can address structural inequalities and restore a sense of inclusion in often-overlooked communities.