Homeless man
releases app
after learning to
code By James Billington, News.com.au December 11, 2013 | 8:50am Here’s a fairy-tale story in the run-up to
Christmas. Leo Grand was living on the
streets without a job prospect coming his
way. Then, one day he was given the offer to
code and now he has just released his own
app. It sounds like the premise of a Hollywood
yarn but as reported by Business Insider this really happened. Most coders have the luxury of a comfy office
chair, a warm office and coffee machine in
the kitchen. Not Leo Grand. He charges his
laptop courtesy of a nearby apartment
building, then heads out to the street where
he has been living since 2011 to learn code from used books from Amazon and the help
of a programmer who decided to give him
this chance. Grand lost his job at MetLife in Manhattan
and was priced out of his apartment with
nowhere to go other than the streets. Patrick McConlogue is the man who saw
potential in Leo and one day decided to give
him a shot by offering him the option of
$100 or books, a laptop and lessons everyday
on how to code. Leo chose the latter. “I can go through $100 in a few days,” Leo
said. “But he told me I could have a laptop
and learn how to do something and I figured
it could turn into something more.” So, every day at 8am McConlogue and Grand
would sit down for an hour and code. When
McConlogue headed off to work, Leo
continued to spend 3-4 hours on his own
practicing writing code and studying up in the
books provided. “It’s not like I don’t have the time to learn to
do it,” Leo says. Leo had a knack for it and before long the two
men had worked together to start building an
app. Four months later Leo’s very own app has been launched in Apple and Android app stores. Trees for Cars is a carpool app that hopes to
save the environment by helping New York
commuters share rides. For those driving, a
meeting place is selected on the app and a list
of nearby riders is suggested. The users are
then connected if they choose to. The app will then track how much CO2 was saved by the
passengers, which encourages a competitive
saving element. “Trees for Cars is a great way to build
relationships, strengthen communities, help
each-other financially and energy wise, all
under the umbrella of saving the
environment,” Grand said in an official
statement about the app. For those who scoffed at the project this is
proof of human perception, potential and
perseverance. As Leo says: “it’s really hard to
convince people that you are not a bad
person, or a drug addict or a crazy. How are
you gonna do that when you are homeless, and that’s how the homeless are depicted.” The app is available for iPhone, iPad and
Android being sold at US$0.99 with the
profits going towards Leo’s development of
further projects. This article originally appe