{"id":5259,"date":"2026-01-31T10:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/depaul-student-unlocks-power-of-ai-to-help-fellow-veterans-battling-homelessness\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T10:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:34:40","slug":"depaul-student-unlocks-power-of-ai-to-help-fellow-veterans-battling-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/depaul-student-unlocks-power-of-ai-to-help-fellow-veterans-battling-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"DePaul Student Unlocks Power of AI to Help Fellow Veterans Battling Homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Having experienced housing instability, Army veteran Chad King was searching for a way to help other veterans struggling to find affordable housing and benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He came up with a solution \u2013 Chief Bud \u2013 an AI assistant built to help veterans learn and apply for VA resources. \u00a0<\/p>\n

King, a graduate student at DePaul University in Chicago, served in the Army for seven years, forging a brotherhood with his fellow comrades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 18 million veterans in the United States, and I feel a connection to all those people,\u201d King told The DePaulia, the university\u2019s student newspaper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

King, who is currently earning a Master of Science degree in human-computer interaction, believes he knows what veterans need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cI served with them, I know them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd those that are outside in the street and whatnot, I know who they are, and I know that\u2019s not where they want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How It Works\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

King\u2019s vision is to provide the basic elements of the AI platform to at least 200 veterans in Chicago by using an \u201celigibility snapshot\u201d to collect essential information, including dates when the veteran served, and details of their discharge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After that information is compiled, users can get a concise list of services and housing programs they could be eligible for and the ensuing steps to take to file a claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

King developed the nucleus for Chief Bud while studying in a Design for Startups course. At the time, the DePaul grad student was battling housing uncertainty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Army veteran and DePaul grad student Chad King. (Submitted)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe easiest problem to solve is the one you\u2019re dealing with,\u201d King said. \u201cI figured that this would be a perfect use case for AI because part of the problem is there are so many rules, so many pages of rules \u2014 and who wants to read those rules?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In recent months, the veteran has been creating a pilot for Chief Bud to test the platform. His goal is to feature the technology at resource fairs in Chicago this summer, opening it up for users.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taking inspiration from some of his past commanders, King developed the Chief Bud character, an AI-animated \u201cveteran\u201d who talks to users in a direct, prompt manner, offering quick answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like in the military,\u201d King said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grant Fuels Project\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

King received a boost to his AI idea in November by winning $25,000, the grand prize, in the TechRise Veteran\u2019s Day Pitch Competition, hosted by P33, a Chicago-area global technology and innovation hub. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Winning the grant was somewhat surprising, since King was the contest\u2019s only entrant that didn\u2019t have a business already established.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s scary because now I have to go be a businessman and that is not what I am nor have I ever been,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

Trepidation aside, King is pouring in the same dedication he showed in the Army, learning the ins and outs of business development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Molly Brown, director of the Homeless Advocacy, Research and Collaboration (HARC Lab) at DePaul, said it\u2019s crucial that AI projects like King\u2019s be informed by people who have gone through human experiences. Part of the university\u2019s Department of Psychology, the lab serves as a research and advocacy program committed to finding ways to prevent homelessness. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cCreating that kind of cultural tailoring makes the intervention or the service itself more accessible to that population, so they\u2019re more likely to use it,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This helps users wary of technology, especially AI, to feel more at ease using the platform, Brown said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Chief Bud logo. (Submitted)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Platform Influenced by Military\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Air Force veteran Trevor Harpanionek sees the benefits of King\u2019s invention. Harpanionek, from nearby Hoffman Estates, Illinois, believes Chief Bud could be a \u201cphenomenal\u201d tool to assist veterans in navigating VA resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He especially enjoys how the program breaks down information in clear bullet points. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt falls right into our wheelhouse of complete and utter structure and order,\u201d Harpanionek said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

King also chose the moniker \u201cChief Bud\u201d as an ode to military life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the military, you\u2019re trained to rely on other people,\u201d King said. \u201cYour battle buddy is the framework that they use. The idea is that you\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Army veteran hopes users will see the platform as a friendly, easy-to-use program. And it allows the budding entrepreneur to dive into the AI boom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is one of the most powerful, interesting tools that has ever been created,\u201d King said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a public benefit corporation, the platform will remain free for veterans. According to Cornell Law School, a PBC is a for-profit company designed to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner while also pursuing one or more specific public benefits and generating revenue for shareholders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have an opportunity to fulfill a mission that I\u2019ve always wanted to fulfill,\u201d King said, \u201cand that is to help the people around me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having experienced housing instability, Army veteran Chad King was searching for a way to help other veterans struggling to find affordable housing and benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs.\u00a0 He came up with a solution \u2013 Chief Bud \u2013 an AI assistant built to help veterans learn and apply for VA resources. \u00a0 King,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images03.military.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full\/public\/2026-01\/chief_bud_1_.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-defense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5261,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5259\/revisions\/5261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}