Daelus

Case study

Student rent support, from application to review

A phone-first site, a student application and a staff review portal for a programme that pays students’ rent.

Visit mdzini.org
Client
Mdzini
Sector
Student housing support
Year
2026
Mdzini’s home page on a laptop: the heading “A roof Over Their Dreams”, an Apply for Rent Support button and Mdzini’s logo, two students under a house roof and a rising sun, above an open book.

Mdzini pays rent for college and university students directly to their landlord, and supports them with mentorship. Its name means “home” in Giriama. Thomas Mweri founded it. Daelus built its website, its student application and the portal its staff use to review applications.

The problem

Mdzini needed one place where students apply, its team reviews each application, and each student can see where their application stands.

The application asks about a student’s home and household income, so it has to be private, and it has to work for a student on a phone with a slow connection.

What was built

  • A public site built for phones first: how the programme works, who can apply, common questions and the student handbook.
  • A student application that asks one question at a time, works on slow connections and saves progress automatically.
  • A privacy notice, linked on the application’s first screen, before any question.
  • Student accounts that show the status of each application.
  • A staff portal where Mdzini’s team reviews applications.
  • Passkey sign-in for staff.
  • Mdzini’s logo, drawn by the Daelus design team: two students under a house roof and a rising sun, above an open book.

How it works

A student reads who can apply, then starts the application. Each screen asks one question. Progress is saved as they go, so they can stop and finish later on the same device.

A student with an account sees their application’s status there. Mdzini’s staff sign in with a passkey and review each application in the portal.

The first screen of the Mdzini application on a laptop: “Apply for Mdzini rent support”, a note that progress is saved automatically, a link to the privacy notice, a Start button and the Mdzini logo.
The application’s first screen links to the privacy notice before any question is asked.
Mdzini’s home page on a phone: the Mdzini logo in a circle above the heading “A roof Over Their Dreams”, a short description and an Apply for Rent Support button.
The home page on a phone.
The first screen of the Mdzini application on a phone, with a full-width Start button.
The application on a phone.

Stack

  • TanStack Start
  • Turso
  • Vercel