Success stories
They got in the door. Here is how.
Every person here came through one of our programs. We asked each of them three things: who are you, what are you doing now, and what did we actually do that helped. Their answers, in their words, with their consent.
Tutoring
Danita Alcorn
Air Force veteran who graduated college at 16, then started over after a stroke: this fall she is finishing the first semester of her cybersecurity degree.
Now: Finishing the semester on plays built for her, requesting her own accommodations, and the method that came out of it carries her name.
How HtW helped
- Plays that open where she actually is and never ask her to remember last week.
- A 'you should see' line after every step, so the screen checks the work, not her memory.
- Help getting the supportive services she was entitled to, and learning to ask for them herself.
You need to do something like this and distribute it. Put my face on it.
OS
ACCESS Granted
Omar Swoope
Aspiring network engineer working through the Networking Foundations labs over Slack.
Now: Co-leads the website and testimonials team while finishing the networking track.
How HtW helped
- Weekly lab grading with written feedback on every submission.
- A real project, the website rebuild, to put on a résumé before the first job.
- Introductions to working engineers who review his work.
EF
Internship
Eyasu Fasil
Computer science major on the cybersecurity track at the University of Maryland.
Now: Intern on the web and testimonials team; owns site updates alongside Omar.
How HtW helped
- Ownership of a live system, not busywork.
- A mentor who treats every edit as a teaching moment.
- A line on the résumé that says he shipped something people use.
Fund the next story.
Fifty thousand dollars moves one person from first exposure to first job. Every gift is a piece of that.
