Local teen creates self

Aug 02, 2023

People from all over Broward County walk into Coast to Coast Legal Aid in Plantation looking for help.

Now they can access that help faster thanks to a newly installed self-serve kiosk in the lobby and believe it or not, the person who made this possible, is barely old enough to drive.

“My name is Cian Craig, I’m 16 years old and I go to St. Thomas Aquinas High School,” said the teenage creator.

It all started last year when Cian was searching for a project to help him make Eagle Scout.

With some pointers from his parents and mentors, Cian saw a need for the kiosk and got to work.

“I really wanted to do something that could help my community and something that aligned with my passions. I want to be a lawyer so I felt doing this kiosk could help me help the legal community,” said Cian.

He raised funds to get all the computer parts, he found a way to secure the software and recruited some friends to put it all together. Then the system went live.

“Low-income Broward residents may not have access to a computer, to a computer with privacy where they’d feel comfortable entering this info. That’s why this computer with alt he privacy features is how they can access a way to apply for our services other than trying to call on the phone,” said attorney Sarah Barker, who has worked with Coast to Coast Legal Aid for 15 years.

She says the kiosk fast-tracks applicants.

“It frees up the ability to get more applicants into our system so we can get back to them faster,” said Barker.

Cian installed the kiosk in April. He wants users to feel comfortable, and know it is secure.

“Here they can feel welcomed and here this is a great opportunity for them to apply for legal help, get information and talk with professionals that can help them with anything they need legally,” said Cian.

“I know that he really was the creator of the privacy and software and coming up with all those ideas to make this a feasible plan. It’s a great prototype to have more of these around the county, he should be so proud,” said Barker.

The kiosk is so useful, Coast to Coast Legal Aid is planning to build another one at the Broward County Courthouse, a place their clients frequent.