CleanHOU · Clean Houston! challenge

Houston already marks the spot.

Every 311 dumping, litter and drain report is a signal. CleanHOU turns it into a handoff: a neighbor chooses one place, claims it, documents the work and leaves a clear next step.

Signal
Choose
Claim
Document
Hand off

The gap

A report says where. It doesn’t say who’s going.

The Clean Houston! brief describes residents who are ready to help but can’t see where the need is greatest, adoption programs that run on PDFs and email, and no easy way to tell whether a site is taken or finished.

Challenge framing · the brief’s words, not our measurement

Three questions a volunteer can’t answer today

Where is help needed most?
Is anyone already on it?
Was the work finished?

01 Choose one place

Pick one block, not the whole city.

Open 311 cases are grouped into small hotspots and ranked by a need score anyone can read: open cases, how long they’ve waited, and how many are past due. Filter by ZIP, radius or category.

Shipped

CleanHOU Explore on a desktop: a Houston map dotted with 311 hotspots beside a list ranked by need score, each card naming an area, its neighborhood, its open cases and a need number. — Product capture from 2026-09-26. City of Houston 311 counts and time change as cases update.

02 Claim it

Claim it, so everyone knows who’s going.

After Google sign-in, a volunteer claims a spot for a date, alone or with a group. The server allows one claim per spot, and the new status reaches other open browsers.

Shipped

CleanHOU hotspot detail on a phone: Francis St area in Greater Third Ward, status Open, a green Claim this spot button, and an Open, Claimed, Completed timeline above the need score. — Hotspot detail on a phone, before it is claimed.

03 Document the work

Finished work leaves a record.

Record bags, volunteers and hours; add completion and before photos when available. The pin turns green and the timeline shows each step with its date.

A volunteer report does not close the City’s 311 case.

Open
Claimed
Completed

Completion photo: add when available, or choose “no photo”
Before photo: optional
Bags · volunteers: counts
Hours: volunteer hours

04 Hand off

Crews share the work. Organizers set the route.

Groups invite friends by link and claim together; any member can finish the job. Organizers publish curated projects, approve or deny interest, and export completed work as CSV.

Shipped · organizer access by allowlisted Google account

An organizer starts a project from a template

Neighborhood cleanup
Tree planting
Planter boxes
Bench install
Storm-drain care
Mural wall prep
Pollinator garden

Then place it on the map, add the real date and details, and publish. Templates are planning starting points, not City approvals.

Where it stands

Honest about the edges.

Progress: Live 311 map and list, need score and filters, claims, groups, completion photos and hours, curated projects, organizer review, CSV export, English and Spanish.
Practical: No Keep Houston Beautiful adoption inventory is loaded. Claims don’t expire on their own. No photo moderation queue.
Potential: A pilot could add adoption opportunities and a verified completion review; any 311 write-back needs an agreed City process.

Proposed pilot

Every cleanup should end with a next step.

We propose one neighborhood, one organizer and an agreed definition of a verified completion, then learn what turns a claim into a finished cleanup.

Open the live app Watch the demo

Two questions from the brief, to answer together

Which City team approves projects and keeps their status current?
How do groups reserve work, get supplies and report completion?

Proposal · nothing here is approved or endorsed