Central Iowa pilot · Free local activation infrastructure

Anonymous accounts. Community-gated access. Local coordination.

RG Herd Aid is a free, open-source infrastructure pilot for groups that need to communicate, share alerts, organize needs, dispatch resources by zone, and activate locally without turning people into public profiles.

People can use anonymous accounts. Access stays gated through trusted community invites. Groups bring in people they know. Accountability stays local.

Alerts Communication Dispatch Activation
If something is urgent, use the emergency, crisis, legal, medical, shelter, or election resources already available to you first. RG Herd Aid supports navigation and coordination. It does not replace emergency services, legal counsel, medical care, shelter programs, or official election offices.

Local activation should not depend on corporate feeds.

Movements and mutual aid networks need tools that move information quickly, protect coordination from trolls, reduce unnecessary identity exposure, and keep local groups in control. RG Herd Aid is built around that need: public information where it belongs, trusted spaces for coordination, and open tools that can be inspected and improved.

What the system gives local groups

A practical stack for alerts, communication, dispatch, access, resources, and activation.

Public resource pages

Local links, program information, civic access guidance, and updates people can use without joining anything.

Gated coordination spaces

Anonymous accounts with access managed through trusted community invites instead of public identity harvesting.

Zone-based dispatch

Open-source ARGUS workflows for needs, resources, skills, locations, follow-up, and operator review.

Short-notice activation

Alerts, ride coordination, supply requests, turnout needs, visibility actions, and local follow-through.

Group-level administration

Vetted local stewards can bring their own members into the system and keep access tied to real accountability.

Open infrastructure

Matrix-based communication, published ARGUS code, open protocols, and systems that can be inspected or self-hosted.

Dispatch when chat is not enough.

Some coordination can happen in conversation. Other situations need structure: needs, resources, zones, skills, follow-up, and review. That is where ARGUS fits.

The goal is to make local action repeatable without turning every activation into a chaotic thread, spreadsheet scramble, or social-media dependency.

Screenshot slot: ARGUS dispatch workflow Needs, resources, zones, skills, operator review, and follow-up.
Screenshot slot: | base | coordination space Community communication, topic rooms, alerts, and future notification choices.

Use the infrastructure. Keep your structure.

Existing organizations, informal networks, mutual aid groups, and community projects can use RG Herd tools without being absorbed by RG Herd.

Keep your identity.
Groups keep their name, leadership, priorities, and relationships.
Invite your people.
Access can be gated by trusted community invites.
Share capacity.
Use communication, alerts, dispatch, websites, and resource tracking.
Avoid capture.
No single brand, platform, or chain of command controls the work.

Built for repeated local activation.

The next step is not waiting months for perfectly scheduled action. The pilot is built for repeated local readiness: alerts, communication, support requests, ride coordination, civic access, visibility actions, and follow-through.

Local resources:
food, shelter, crisis support, legal aid, transportation, public services.
Family assistance:
errands, rides, check-ins, supply runs, appointments, mutual aid.
Civic access:
voting resources, official election links, accessibility, 2026 ride planning.
Volunteer capacity:
skills, supplies, tech help, translation, accessibility, logistics.
Screenshot slot: activation / alerting concept Future member-selected notification topics, local alerts, turnout needs, and short-notice coordination.
Screenshot slot: federated local nodes Local servers, group-owned sites, Matrix spaces, ARGUS instances, alerting systems, and trusted federation.

Local pilot, federated future.

Central Iowa is the starting point. The long-term goal is a national activation network built from decentralized, group-level operated tools that can interconnect through federation and trusted coordination agreements.

By request, RG Herd can help groups think through their own websites, resource pages, Matrix-based community spaces, ARGUS deployments, alerting tools, and related services.

Practical trust requires inspectable tools.

RG Herd uses open protocols and published components where possible, including Matrix-based communication and the public ARGUS project. Open code makes it possible for people to inspect, understand, improve, self-host, adapt, and connect local systems. Not black boxes. Not hidden algorithms. Not corporate dependency.

Start local. Build capacity. Stay independent.

RG Herd Aid begins with Central Iowa, trusted participation, and practical tools. The goal is many local groups with their own structure, connected strongly enough to move together when it matters.

Join | base |