Homeless Coder, Leo Grand, Releases Mobile App You Can Download Today
Leo Grand, also known as the “homeless coder,” has released a new mobile app called Trees For Cars that you can download right now. After losing his job at MetLife and his home, Grand was pushed out to the street. Spending his days on the streets of Manhattan, Grand was one day approached with an unique offer to learn coding.
A programmer named Patrick McConlogue took notice of Grand. McConlogue offered him two options: either accept $100 in cool cash, or spend the next few months learning how to code. Grand passed on the money, opting for the lessons instead. “It’s not like I don’t have the time to learn to do it,” Grand remarked. $100 dollars, he says, will be gone in a few days, but learning to code has long-term potential.
Grand met with McConlogue every weekday at 8am. He was given an inexpensive Chromebook and for an hour he received personal coding lessons. Throughout the day Grand, the homeless coder, would spend his time studying what he had learned and charging his laptop from public outlets. The new app was created by the homeless coder after just 16 weeks of lessons.
Grand says many doubted his ability to successfully release the mobile app. He says that it’s a challenge 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?”
Leo Grand’s new app, Trees For Cars, debuted on both Apple and Android app stores at the low price of 99 cents this week. The app aims to make it easy for people to find carpooling options. As Grand explains, it means to lower the number of cars on the road in a pragmatic way, transitioning people away from relying on driving inefficient vehicles individually.
As the app’s name suggests, Grand hopes fewer cars on the streets will mean reduced CO2 emissions. Trees For Cars will tell users how much CO2 is saved with each ride. He hopes that tracking users’ savings will promote environmental awareness.
Interested? You can download the new app by Leo Grand, the homeless coder, on Apple Store or the Google Play Store for just $0.99 right now. Watch the video below to hear Grand describe Trees For Cars in his own words:
[Image via YouTube / treesforcars.com]