Code Co-op offers free learning sessions at Innovation Depot

Ray Randle, a mentor at Birmingham’s Code Co-op, said lately there’s been a surge in coding boot camps because it’s such a sought-after skill.

“It gives a lot of people hope, having classes like these. They say, ‘This is a skill that I’ve always wanted to learn,’” he said.

Code Co-op, dubbed “a free coding help and hack night,” is hosted the last Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. at Innovation Depot. People of all walks of life and experience levels are invited to come out for a couple of hours and get resources and talk about technology.

Each session is casual, Randle said, where the group sits down with mentors and has a conversation about opportunities available to them. As a mentor, Randle “helps other people in the community discover talents and find what they’re interested in” regarding coding. He also helps connect people in the industry.

Randle said it was only a small group of people at first, but recently the nights have been so packed out that they had to move to a bigger space at Innovation Depot. A lot of the people that sign up are newcomers, but some are more advanced coders, he said.

The event is hosted by Code Connective, a group dedicated to connecting adults with coding resources, workshops and potential career opportunities. 

They also have a Slack group for additional resources that people can join if they can’t attend one of the nights. For more information, check out Code Connective on the Meetup app or go to codeconnective.com.