SPHA Housing Assistant

An automated assistant that answers visitor questions about St. Petersburg Housing Authority programs, using only content published on stpeteha.org. This page is the developer/demo host — the launcher in the corner is exactly what a visitor would see on the live site.

Try it

Use the launcher at the bottom of this page, or open the full-page version — useful for linking from an “I Need Help” page or for visitors on assistive technology.

Add it to stpeteha.org

Paste one line into the site template, just before the closing body tag:

<script src="https://YOUR-DEPLOYMENT/widget.js" defer></script>

Optional attributes: data-position="left", data-label="Need help?", data-open-on-load="true". The widget also exposes SPHAChat.open(), .close() and .toggle() so an existing “I Need Help” button can open it.

What it knows

39 pages from stpeteha.org (263 passages), last crawled August 29, 2026. Waiting-list status is re-read live from the Apply for Housing page at answer time. Re-run npm run crawl whenever the site changes.

What it will not do

• Look up an individual application, rent balance, or account.
• Decide eligibility, estimate waiting time, or predict a list opening.
• Give legal advice, or quote figures that are not published on the site.
• Accept a Social Security number, date of birth, or payment details.

Anything account-specific is handed off to SPHA staff at 727.323.3171, with an option for the visitor to leave their name and contact information for follow-up.