Amanda Snyder Cathey's life turned upside down in the span of a few weeks. The day after finalizing her divorce in February, she got laid off from her senior product design role at a real estate tech company. A few weeks later, her landlord told her she had to move because of a septic issue at the rental house.
She has three daughters. The oldest is starting college in the fall, so she had to reapply for financial aid at every school her daughter wanted to attend since her income had changed drastically.
"When you lose your job, you're in a fog. It's just very overwhelming," she said. "I didn't want to be a deer in the headlights, so I took some time off just to get myself together and figure out what to do next."
Then came the idea. One night, brainstorming with a friend about things she could build with AI — "because in every job interview I've had, I've been asked about how I use it" — she realized the perfect problem to solve was the one she was living through.
She noticed all these people on LinkedIn talking about layoffs and struggling to find resources. She built RIF Surfer: a one-stop shop where people can search by state for information on unemployment benefits, health insurance, food assistance, and mental health resources. It also includes a checklist of steps to follow after a layoff.
"I'm a designer, not an engineer, but I built RIF Surfer in one week by vibe coding with Claude," she said. "It felt natural. I just thought of Claude as a cognitive partner."
She was inspired by the gov.uk benefits finder. The whole thing cost almost nothing beyond her Claude subscription — one night she hit her usage limit and paid around $50 to keep working.
The tool is free, and she plans to keep it that way. "For now, I just want it to be a free community resource — a soft landing and a way for folks to bounce back," she said.
Her advice to others going through layoffs: "We've all got to learn how to surf this wave."