More than 300 Volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Portland Maine are scheduled into four 3-hour calendar shifts each day to staff the front desk, clean rooms, and provide families with support to help make their lives easier while their children are being treated in nearby hospitals.

Homebase Origins and Reuse

Prior to 2008, volunteer scheduling at RMH was done manually on a desk calendar.  In 2008, four computer science students at Bowdoin College worked with the House Manager to create new software to change this. They developed software called Homebase, which provides online scheduling of volunteers into calendar shifts. By streamlining this tedious administrative task, Homebase allows volunteers to spend more time supporting families.

This software was later customized by other software development classes.

  • Two Bowdoin student teams enhanced Homebase in 2011 and 2013 for the RMH in Portland, ME.
  • A Whitman College student team customized Homebase in 2015 for the RMH in Providence, RI.
  • Homebase was customized again in 2015 for the RMH in Bangor, ME.
  • Homebase was customized again in 2019 for the RMH in Boston, MA.

Ibec Creative in Portland, Maine provides web hosting and technical support for Homebase in ME, while Coursevector provides the same for Homebase in MA and RI.

Instructor/Developer Links: