AI is an accessibility tool, not a service provider.

This is generated by an AI assistant, not a person. It can be wrong — double-check anything important, and ask a Guardians navigator if you need a human.

• What is a credit?

  A credit is a prepaid voucher for one real thing a neighbor needs — starting with a meal, then clothing or shoes (gear), laundry, grooming, or housing support. A sponsor funds it; you redeem it at a named partner business in the Antelope Valley. No cash passes through your hands, and the credit follows you, not a building.

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• What kinds of credits are there?

  Phase 0 starts with meal credits (breakfast, lunch, or dinner). The basics expand from there — clothing or shoes (gear), laundry, and a haircut or grooming. Housing support is a separate, higher-stakes credit with a stricter approval path. Each kind has its own daily limit — for example, one of each meal per day.

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• How do I receive a credit?

  A community navigator issues credits based on your trust tier — Tier 1 (a verified phone number) is enough to start receiving meal credits. You don't pay and you don't apply for money; a navigator confirms a real need and issues the credit to you. Some credits will later be earned through partner work programs or auto-issued in specific situations. AI never decides this — a person does.

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• How do credits work?

  A sponsor funds a credit. It is issued to you as a code or voucher, and you redeem it at a named partner business in the Antelope Valley. No cash changes hands with you, and anything that isn't used returns to the pot. Every credit follows a real redemption you can see.

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• What is a meal credit?

  A meal credit is a prepaid voucher for one meal — breakfast, lunch, or dinner — that you redeem at a verified Antelope Valley food vendor. You don't pay; a sponsor already funded it through the Meal Fund. A meal credit expires at the end of the day it was issued.

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• When can I use a meal credit (the meal windows)?

  Meals are claimed during set times, Pacific time: Breakfast 8:30–10:30 AM, Lunch 2:00–4:00 PM, and Dinner 7:30–9:00 PM. You can claim one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner per day. The windows are offset from rush hours on purpose, so partner vendors get traffic during their slow times.

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• What is a vendor?

  A vendor is a local business — a restaurant, café, thrift store, laundromat, transit operator, or motel — that has passed a verification call and agreed to accept Guardians credits. When you redeem a credit, the platform pays the vendor; you pay nothing. Vendors are trained to scan your code without asking about the program out loud.

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• How does redeeming a credit work?

  You show your credit's QR code to a verified partner vendor. The vendor scans it, the platform confirms it's valid and pays the vendor, and you get the meal or item. The vendor sees only the QR code — not your name or photo. Meal credits only redeem inside their meal window.

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• How does the QR code work?

  Each redemption uses a short QR token that the server checks. For security the token is only valid for 60 seconds and refreshes from your screen, so a screenshot of it can't be reused later. The vendor scans the live code; the platform confirms it and records one real redemption.

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• How do donations become credits?

  When someone donates or sponsors, that money funds specific credits — for example, the Meal Fund turns gifts into plates of food. Each credit is then issued to a neighbor and redeemed at a named local business, so a donor can follow their gift all the way to a real meal. Money in equals credits out; unused value returns to the pot.

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• What are the trust tiers?

  Tier 0 means no account — anyone can still use the resource map, shelter listings, and crisis line. Tier 1 is a verified phone number (we don't ask your name, address, or ID). Tier 2 is partner-verified by a shelter, church, outreach worker, or employer. Tier 3 is ID-verified. Tier 4 (Guardian) is by nomination only — you can't apply for it. Higher tiers unlock more support.

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• What are stars?

  Stars are confirmations of real, positive actions — completing a work shift, arriving on time, helping a community member, keeping an appointment, or mentoring someone. A partner, navigator, or admin confirms each star. Collecting enough stars moves your account up the trust tiers. You never grant your own stars or tier — a person verifies them.

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• What do "the unsupported" and "neighbors" mean?

  We say "the unsupported" and "neighbors," never "the homeless." The point is dignity: a person isn't a label or a case. "Unsupported" names a situation — someone who has lost the scaffolding most people lean on — not a permanent identity. Everyone here is a neighbor first.

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• How does Guardians keep my information private?

  Guardians is built privacy-first, not surveillance-first. Tier 0 and Tier 1 work with no name, no address, and no ID. A vendor only ever sees a QR code, not who you are. No personal information is ever sent to an AI provider, and there are no automated decisions about your tier, credits, or access — humans make those. The goal is help without being watched.

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• What does Guardians of the AV actually do?

  Guardians of the AV is a coordination layer for the Antelope Valley. It helps neighbors find real resources — meals, shelter, hygiene, transit, benefits help — and turns donations into trackable credits redeemed at named local businesses. It layers on top of existing providers; it isn't a shelter or a replacement for them.

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Need a person, or a question that isn’t here? Reach a Guardians navigator.