Getting codebar off the ground in Savannah
Savannah is a small city on the Georgia coast. It’s a tourist destination thanks to its history, beautiful squares, great food, and abundant opportunities for tourists to spend money. A lot of locals call it “historic Disneyland”.
But, behind and around all of the tourism, Savannah is a town with desperate generational poverty (caused, in a lot of ways, by the very tourism our leaders are so thrilled about). On top of the generational poverty that keeps almost a quarter of our neighbors down, we have a huge portion of our population (over 50%) that lives one missed paycheck away from homelessness. We have brilliant people here just getting by working three and four part-time jobs, frequently going without health insurance or the ability to pay into a retirement account.
Oh yeah, this is about codebar!
All of that depressing preamble is to say there’s a desperate need for ways to get people out of poverty, to get those on the precipice of ruin to more solid ground, and all without a lot of infrastructure.
That’s where codebar comes in! I don’t remember how I found codebar, but it was probably Jeremy Kieth’s blog.
I loved the idea of a monthly meetup where people learn something, and other people help out. I’ve seen the model work with RailsBridge, but this felt lighter and more accessible. It’s easier to convince someone to give up an evening than an entire Saturday.
Why coding?
I’m not crazy enough to think that teaching all of Savannah how to code will fix our problems. But, no matter what field you’re in or want to go into, knowing how to tell a computer what to do and have it do it is a valuable skill. Learning to code, even a little, is a great way to build problem solving skills, and can make you more marketable in whatever field you’re in.
And, if you end up becoming a developer, that’s awesome! But, we’re here to help no matter your goal.
Yeah, but is it for me?
Probably! The codebar eligibility rules are pretty straightforward. It exists to increase diversity in tech. But, if you’re in poverty now, or economically “precarious”, we’ll take you in Savannah. If you have any questions about what that means or if you’re eligible, please reach out to savannah@codebar.io.
How codebar works
The process is pretty straightforward:
- Sign up for codebar.
- Sign up for a workshop in Savannah! (it’s a little confusing but you do need to sign up on the site and then register for a workshop). You’ll tell us what tutorial you want to work on during the registration step. This helps us know how many, and what kinds of, coaches we need.
- Bring your laptop, a curious spirit, and yourself to the workshop!
- You’ll go through the tutorial at your own pace, and your coach will be there to help explain things and get you over any places you get stuck.
It really is a lot of fun and a very relaxed way to learn things.
How can I help?
We need coaches! You don’t have to be an expert at anything in order to be a coach! You just need to know a little bit more than your students and be willing to help. I’ve found sometimes it helps to have someone who’s just learned something explain it since the hurdles are fresh in their minds and not ancient (like mine).
We also need sponsors! Thanks to the Creative Coast, we have a space, but it would be lovely to feed people while they’re learning. If you’d like to sponsor, please reach out!
