After graduating, Patrick McConlogue, Pepperdine ’12, knew that he had to carry on the legacy of service his chapter engrained in him; after seeing Leo Grand, a homeless man, sitting outside his office every day, McConlogue seized the opportunity.

“I passed by a homeless man, young, maybe 28, every day for about five months,” McConlogue said. “One day, I gave him a choice; either I give you $100 right now or I teach you how to code. He chose the latter.”

By now the story of Leo Grand, “The Homeless Coder”, has been featured across the media, and for great reason; it embodies the fable of “give a man a fish or teach a man to fish.” While walking to work one day, McConlogue saw an intangible something about Leo that sparked his challenge.

“I saw this man who was doing lifts by throwing two boat chains over his neck,” McConlogue noted. “It was epic drive. Here was this homeless guy with chains around his neck fighting to not give up. It was movie-poster worthy,” he said.

With a pupil identified, McConlogue took action and began a project that rapidly became viral. His proposal was greeted with criticism and claims of false intent, but none could deny that he had the will to act.

What moved him from observer to teacher? “Devon Walker, ’12, the former president of our chapter, got four alumni to hop on the phone each week to think about ways we could improve ourselves,” McConlogue said. “The conversations were always about service and asking ourselves the question, ‘How do we do a better job at making a difference in other people’s lives?’” Now he had to figure out how to teach his willing student.

McConlogue held daily, hour-long sessions where he and Grand met on various benches and open spaces near McConlogue’s office. Grand picked up the content quickly, absorbing the lessons and breezing through the JavaScript manuals. McConlogue raised the rigor and increased the session time. Where they spent their New York nights, however, was a different story. One slept in his apartment, the other in train stations.

“I kept telling him that it was getting really cold,” McConlogue said, “but he was like, ‘I’m good man, let’s keep going.’”

Grand, a science lover and passionate learner, had lost his job and home two years earlier. While most would see this as an unfortunate ending, Grand never lost hope.“He has an intensity,” McConlogue said, “you can clearly see he’s not done; the game’s not over.”

It’s good then, especially for Grand, that the game has changed. Since technology is the lifeblood for market innovation, learning to code is like learning to read. Its impact has grown immensely, so much so that school districts like Chicago are making computer science a core subject. Combine this developing skill base with altruistic efforts and the effects could create radical change.

“While technology has had an impact in so many ways, it still hasn’t affected needs-based structures like homelessness, child abuse, or even prison.” McConlogue noted, “Technology is an incredible tool for empowerment. It allows someone to use their mind to create amazing things. In Leo’s case, he simply wanted to change himself and the world.”

After 16 weeks of coding lessons, Grand released his app, “Trees for Cars” in December of 2013. As a mobile carpooling connector for drivers and riders, it’s built to keep drivers off the road and reduce CO2 emissions in the air; it doesn’t hurt that it’ll also save you some cash.

According to McConlogue’s “Journeyman” Facebook page, set up to chronicle this story and the chord it has struck among 66,000+ followers, fans of the two coders are extremely curious about what’s next. McConlogue recently posted an item asking if people would help get Grand to the next level of stability if he started a fund to get some expenses covered. Over 100 people commented and said they would help. So the close bond between this unlikely pair continues.

After describing his SigEp experience, it’s easy to see how McConlogue came across this opportunity, “As a new member, it’s hard to realize how much volunteer effort is put in by leaders of the Fraternity and alumni. At our chapter, there is a culture around giving back. Just like anything, you get what you put into your community, but for me I feel constantly in debt for what the Fraternity has given to me.”