We're Building Something Different

# We're Building Something Different So here's the thing. Mental health crisis support is broken in ways that are honestly kind of obvious once you think about it. You call a hotline at 3 AM and get a busy signal. Or you're in a country where the number doesn't even work. Or maybe you just can't bring yourself to actually dial because talking to a stranger feels impossible right now. And by the time you do get through, you have to explain everything from scratch to someone who will never talk to you again. We started The Solace Foundation because we think technology can actually help fix this. Not replace human connection, that would be missing the point entirely. But technology that fills the gaps. Technology that's there when humans can't be. ## What We're Actually Building ASTRAL CORE is the main thing we're working on. It's an AI-powered crisis intervention platform, which I know sounds like every other tech startup pitch you've heard. But let me explain what makes this different. The AI doesn't try to be your therapist. What it does is provide immediate support while connecting you with actual trained counselors. Think of it like triage at an emergency room. The AI assesses the situation, provides what help it can in the moment and gets you to the right human as fast as possible. Some specs if you care about that sort of thing: - Response times under 200 milliseconds (we're targeting this, still in development) - Support for 14 languages including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and more - A multi-stage AI safety system with real-time crisis detection because when you're dealing with people in crisis you really cannot afford to get things wrong - HIPAA-aligned data practices. Not fully certified yet but we're building toward it ## TETHER Is the Part I'm Most Excited About This is where it gets interesting. TETHER is a peer support system that matches you with trained volunteer counselors who check in on you regularly. The idea is simple. You get matched with someone who understands what you're going through. They check in on you. If you miss a check-in, the system notices and alerts your support network. No one falls through the cracks. Its completely anonymous too. No registration required. You just get a random ID like "Star-1234" and that's it. All messages are end-to-end encrypted. What makes it different: - Peer matching with trained volunteers who get it - Regular check-ins that don't require talking, just let us know you're okay - Emergency alerts when something seems wrong - Cultural matching so you're paired with someone who understands your background ## We're Not Launched Yet I want to be clear about something. ASTRAL CORE is still in alpha. We don't have thousands of users or impressive metrics to show you. This is very much a work in progress. But we're building it right. Every piece of code is written with safety as the priority. The AI has multiple layers of protection against harmful outputs. And everything is designed to get people to human support as quickly as possible when they need it. ## If You Want to Help We're a nonprofit which means we run on donations and volunteer support. If any of this resonates with you there's a few ways to get involved. You could donate. Even small amounts help us keep the servers running and pay for the AI infrastructure which is honestly not cheap. You could volunteer. We need crisis counselors obviously but we also need people for community outreach, technical contributors and general support roles. Or you could just spread the word. Share this with someone who might care about mental health accessibility. Follow along as we build this thing. Thats really it for now. We'll have more updates as we move toward beta. Thanks for reading this far. *Nicholas D'Amato, Founder*