Short answer
No. Help Me does not run background checks. Helpers can apply to be reviewed by our team: they submit identity evidence, and a member of our team reviews it and decides. The review has to be current to work. It is a real gate, but it is not a criminal records search, and we do not describe it as one.
The facts, in one place
- Identity evidence plus a review by our team, not a records search.
- The review is current-status and can end.
- Helpers are neighbors, not licensed or bonded professionals.
- Meeting in public and report and block exist because no gate is perfect.
Why the distinction matters
People make different choices when they think a stranger has been cleared by a records search. Overstating a check would buy trust the product has not earned and cannot back. So the language stays boring and exact: identity evidence, a review by our team, current, and revocable.
What the review still gives you
Accountability. The person who says yes is tied to a reviewed identity and to a record of the request. Reports attach to that identity. Blocking is permanent from your side. Anonymous drive-by help is not something that can happen here.
- A review by our team, not an algorithm.
- Reports that attach to a reviewed identity.
- A block that is permanent from your side.
What stays on you
Meet in public, keep the chat in the app until you meet, and use report and block. You can report or block any member at any time. Nothing about the review is a promise about anyone's character.
Help Me is not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.
Questions people actually ask
No professional credential is involved. The review is an internal status that lets someone see and accept requests, and it can end.
Yes. Meet in public, keep the chat in the app until you meet, and use report and block. Call 911 for anything threatening.
Identity evidence from inside the app. A member of our team reviews it and decides.
Keep going
- HelpingBe the one who says yesApply in the app, submit identity evidence, and get reviewed by our team before you can see or accept requests in Fargo-Moorhead. Say yes when it suits you.
- GlossaryIdentity evidenceHelpers submit identity evidence in Help Me so our team can review who they are. It is not a background check, and Help Me does not run them.
- AnswerWhat happens when you meet someone?How meeting works: a private chat, a public place, a rough map area, a review for helpers, and report and block in every request. Plus what stays on you.
- Ground rulesThe ground rules, said plainlyHow Help Me handles your location, who can help, private chat, and meeting in public. Plus how to report or block anyone. Help Me is not an emergency service.
- AnswerHow do I become a Helper?Apply in the app, submit identity evidence, and get reviewed by our team. Helping needs a current review before you can see or accept requests.
Help Me is a community app for adults in Fargo–Moorhead. It is not a K–12 student program, not a youth chat, and not campus police.