How FIMBY works
See how FIMBY helps neighbours ask, offer, borrow, gather, and stay connected.
Live now in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Strathcona (postal code V6A).
FIMBY in 60 seconds
- Join with your postal code, scoped to your immediate neighbourhood
- Ask, offer, lend, borrow, gather, and share life with people nearby
- Library holds items and skills: tools to borrow, help to request
- Care preferences and support people keep help welcomed, not assumed
- Local orgs post meals, rides, and rhythms neighbours can count on: steady tables in the same feed
FIMBY not in your neighbourhood yet? Sign up anyway. We’ll add you to the waitlist and let you know when FIMBY launches near you.
Good morning, neighbour
The neighbourhood is waking up
OFFER
ASK
Join your neighbourhood
Tell us your name, add a photo, and let your neighbours know how they can care for you well.
During onboarding you’ll set care preferences: what kind of support is welcome, how people should reach out, and anything you’d rather they avoid. Everything is optional and editable later.
This is how FIMBY makes sure help is welcomed, not assumed.
Welcome to the neighbourhood!
Let’s get your profile set up so your neighbours can get to know you.
How can your neighbours care for you well?
These help people know how to show up for you, on your terms. Everything here is optional.
OFFER
ASK
PRAYER
THANK YOU
See what’s happening
Your neighbourhood feed shows asks, offers, stories, events, and more, all from the people around you.
Switch to Asks & Offers for practical needs and bulk buys. Filter by Shared Life to see stories, prayers, and thank yous.
It stays small on purpose: the same neighbours, again and again.
Ask, offer, and share
Ask for help, offer something, share a story, or a prayer request if you’d like. Your neighbourhood sees it right away.
Tap the + button and choose what you’d like to post. Each type has its own flow: asks and offers track responses, events handle RSVPs, and bulk buys coordinate shared purchases.
like to share?×
Borrow and lend
Borrowing is the point here, not just giving or selling. When the thing comes back, so does the neighbour.
The Library holds items and skills: tools, books, and gear to borrow, plus neighbours who offer help like bike repair, tutoring, or translation.
One gentle pause while you’re new: borrowing items opens after a neighbour or community group vouches for you: a quick “I know this person.” An introduction, not a background check. Everything else, including skills, is open from day one. How vouching works →
A borrowed ladder can become a front-yard conversation. That is often how trust starts.
Lend an Item
Tools, books, gear
Offer a Skill
Standing help neighbours can ask for
Gather
Three kinds of events for different social shapes, plus standing rhythms like a weekly movie night or monthly soup night you can count on. Turn on Repeat this event for recurring gatherings in your neighbourhood.
Gatherings help strangers become familiar. Even a small alley cleanup can change the feel of a block.
Event Type
Stay connected
Coordinate through response threads, direct messages, or group chats. Everything stays in one inbox.
That means fewer loose ends, and less wondering where a conversation went.
James T.
Built into every neighbourhood
A daily digest, not a feed
Once a day, or once a week if you prefer, FIMBY can email you a quiet summary of what’s happening nearby: new asks and offers, upcoming events, freshly listed library items, and a few good things neighbours sorted out. It only arrives when there is actually something to share, so a slow week stays silent. You can rest on Sundays, too: turn off Sunday emails and the weekend waits for you on Monday. And for neighbours without a phone or home internet, the digest is often the easiest way to keep up, readable on any library computer.
Warmth by design
Most apps celebrate the metrics that benefit them: streaks, screen time, follower counts. FIMBY celebrates showing up for a neighbour. None of this is decoration. It’s how an app says “I noticed” instead of “keep scrolling!”. Too much whimsy? Tone it down in Settings.
First posts, milestones, and seasonal themes all trigger celebrations.
Bulk buys
Split large purchases with neighbours. The organizer posts what they’re buying, neighbours reserve shares, and everyone saves. FIMBY tracks allocations so nobody gets lost.
Quiet notifications
Notifications respect your schedule. Set quiet hours, choose what you hear about, and never get woken up by a bulk buy update.
Community groups
Community centres, shelters, churches, and other local groups can have a presence in their neighbourhood, posting events, meal times, and program schedules. It is one of the ways FIMBY helps informal neighbourly care and formal community supports sit closer together, in the same feed, on the same street.
Support people
Someone you trust can use FIMBY on your behalf: posting, responding, and messaging as you. Built for elders, disabled neighbours, people with low tech confidence, or anyone who would rather have someone close help them participate.
Parents can add a parent-managed family profile for a kid in their household (ages 10–18). The child is known by name in the neighbourhood (“Posted with help from Sarah”), and a parent is always the one at the keyboard. No child logins, ever.
FIMBY is designed to stay
local, human, and useful.
Read more about our approach.
Ready for step one?
If this neighbourhood is part of your real life, you’re welcome here.
Check your neighbourhood
with your postal code
happening nearby
FIMBY not in your neighbourhood yet? Sign up anyway. We’ll add you to the waitlist and let you know when FIMBY launches near you.
Part of a community group or organization? You can join too. Just tick the box when you sign up.
For adults 19+. Families welcome: parents add a family profile from their own login. More in the FAQ.
Bring FIMBY here
FIMBY grows one neighbourhood at a time. If you’re a neighbour, organizer, church, or community group who’d help launch a hub, we’d love to hear from you.
- Gather 10–20 neighbours you can actually recognize
- Host a low-key intro: coffee, porch, or community room
- Optional moderator role with support from the FIMBY team
Still have questions?
You’ll find reassurance in our FAQ.