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Homeless Man Learning Coding From NYC Entrepreneur Prepping First Mobile App
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 12, 2013
Modified Oct 12, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 12, 2013
Modified Oct 12, 2013
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This summer, NYC programmer and self-proclaimed entrepreneur Patrick McConlogue caused a bit of a stir online when he wrote about his plans to offer a random homeless person $100 or the opportunity to learn how to code. Despite some naysayers, McConlogue followed through with the experiment, and has been teaching homeless "Journeyman" Leo all about coding for the last 45 days. It seems they've made some real inroads, since Leo is now prepping to released his first mobile app—and McConlogue is meeting with a "MAJOR book publisher" about writing up the story.
"He told me I could have a laptop and learn how to do something and I figured it could turn into something more," Leo wrote on the Facebook page. "It’s not like I don’t have the time to learn to do it." Leo, who lost his job at MetLife in 2011, hasn't said much about the app, but it's called "Go Green" and is related to his interest in environmental issues. But Leo's skills have improved enough that he's attending a "hackathon" today in Manhattan.
McConlogue, 23, has also expressed interest in continuing his experiment with Leo with other people around the world—he's offering other people one-on-one lessons in coding via Google Helpouts.
Tagged
coding
homeless
homelessness
journeyman
leo
patrick mcconlogue
poverty
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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