Pathwell
A recovery-wellness platform for participants, chapter leads and national staff: join by text, track recovery capital, run chapters, report to funders.
Pathwell by YPR started as a 52-page platform outline written for an RFP. YPR had outgrown Solomon, a system with broken messaging, no participant login and single-facility limits. Instead of hiring a vendor, YPR had Optimistic build the product: a custom WordPress platform (plugin plus theme, 17 custom tables) with three role-based experiences. Participants register by email, pick a chapter, take the Recovery Capital Index, set goals and check in. Chapter leads run their roster, events, keyword text check-ins and announcements. National staff see the whole network, run reports, send campaigns and read de-identified AI insights. It runs on its own production domain, in staff testing, with real two-way SMS.
The RFP asked for a vendor. YPR got a product team: Pathwell went from a 52-page outline to a live, texting, reporting platform in one season.
YPR needed one place where a young person in recovery could join a chapter, measure their own recovery capital and set goals, where a volunteer chapter lead could see who showed up and who is drifting, and where the national team could prove outcomes to funders. The previous platform could not message reliably, had no participant login and could only model one facility. The outline asked for all of this by October 1, with a six-figure vendor budget attached.
Two constraints shaped every decision. First, the data: recovery scores, phone numbers and attendance belong to real people, so consent, scoping and audit trails came before features. Second, the users: participants on phones, leads who log in a few times a month, and staff who need the whole network. The same platform had to feel simple to the first group and complete to the last.
One journey, applied to Pathwell.
Clarify
We read the full outline, kept WordPress as the required foundation, and put all application logic in a custom plugin instead of off-the-shelf add-ons: custom roles (participant, chapter lead, region manager, org admin), custom tables for goals, assessments, check-ins, keywords and an audit log, and a phased plan from auth to admin views.
Design
The participant loop came first: register, verify, choose a chapter, take the RCI, set goals, check in, see progress. Then the staff dashboards with real data, not mock charts. When the first visual direction read as too much glass, the whole platform was flattened to solid surfaces with one button system, a segmented role switcher and a first-run Get Started checklist.
Activate
Brevo handles email, Twilio handles a toll-free number with two-way SMS: every chapter has a keyword (text DEN to join or check in), inbound texts log attendance against live events or use a numbered-reply fallback, and STOP and START sync consent. Each chapter gets a public link-in-bio page with a QR code and a live Happening Now check-in form. Events support recurring series, reminders, waitlists, sign-up questions and public share pages; announcements go by email, SMS or both, with Are-you-coming polls.
Scale
The test build adds guided tours, a bug-report bar and self-registration for staff testers, plus admin tools: view-as impersonation, data retention, system health, report builder with snapshots, and AI Insights that only ever see aggregate, small-cell-suppressed numbers. The public events and chapters feeds also power the Events page on youngpeopleinrecovery.org, so a meeting scheduled in Pathwell shows up on the main site in minutes.
Three audiences, one platform.
Participant dashboard
A Get Started checklist, RCI results with domain bars, goals and check-ins, upcoming meetings, milestones and a resource finder, all on a phone-first layout.
Recovery Capital Index
The official 10-, 36- and 68-item instruments with scheduled prompts, history over time and staff views that compare a chapter against the national average.
Keyword SMS
One keyword per chapter on a toll-free number. Text it to join or check in; pre-signup texts are linked to the account later by phone.
Events
Recurring series with six-week horizons and auto-renewal, RSVP with waitlists, reminders, sign-up questions, square cover images and public share pages with maps.
Chapter pages & QR
Every chapter gets a public link-in-bio page its lead can edit, a downloadable QR code, and a Happening Now check-in card during meetings.
Announcements
Email, SMS or both, to a chapter, an event audience or the whole network, with test sends, segment counts and Are-you-coming polls.
Chapter dashboard
Roster, participant cards, at-risk flags, attendance charts with the national line, tasks with checklists, subgroups and bulk add.
Reports & AI Insights
CSV and printable reports, scheduled snapshots, and a reporting-only AI summary that works from de-identified aggregates.
Admin tools
Master Control for people and chapters, magic-link invites, view-as, data retention, system health, bug reports and a Dev Log.
A real platform, on a real domain, with real texts.
Pathwell is in staff testing on its production domain. Screens shown use a sample chapter and sample participants; real participant data is never used in marketing.
