Project putting man's computer skills to use

By PETER SAVODNIK / Daily Progress staff writer
Jul 26, 2002


Matt Covington has spent months scrambling for work, bouncing from one
job interview to the next, scouring the help-wanted ads, surfing the
Internet.

"Basically, I would be willing to do about anything," said the
37-year-old computer guru, a Little Rock, Ark., native who moved to
Charlottesville from Chicago a few years ago with his mother.

All of which confuses the folks at the Virginia Organizing Project, a
liberal group in the city perhaps best known for its "living wage"
campaign targeting local hotels.

After all, Covington is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of
Technology, in Rochester, N.Y., and a veritable wiz when it comes to
repairing old computers, said VOP executive director Joe Szakos.

So Szakos asked Covington to volunteer in the VOP's free-computer
program, which doles out patched-up hardware to nonprofits in need of a
helping hand.

In the past four years, the program has given away 927 computers, 218
printers, 32 fax machines, 14 copiers, 12 typewriters and five scanners,
Szakos said, adding that 50 groups and individuals are on the waiting
list for "new old equipment."

Covington, who's partially deaf and suffers from a disorder that makes
it difficult for him to keep his balance, spends four days a week, from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m., upgrading banged-up Macintosh and IBM computers.

The equipment has gone to groups all over the state, Szakos said,
including the Public Housing Association of Residents and the Quality
Community Council, both in Charlottesville.

"I'm just fascinated by computers," Covington said from the VOP's
offices on Concord Avenue. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day the world
is run by computers."  Covington added that he prefers IBMs to Macs
because IBMs are "more business-like."

Szakos, speaking from a conference on education policy in Milwaukee,
heaped praise on Covington, who tends to be soft-spoken and, at times,
self-effacing.

"Matt brings a high level of expertise in terms of computer hardware and
computer software, and he also just brings a great spirit to the work
that we're doing," Szakos said, adding that today marks week 91 of the
VOP's living-wage effort.

Estimating that Covington has fixed at least 100 computers, Szakos said
Covington's disabilities had made it hard for him to get a job.

"I think that a lot of employers are not willing to try to figure out
how to make it work," Szakos said. "In our situation, we've found out
how to make it work. Our problem is, we don't have the kind of funding
base to hire people for those positions."

Covington doesn't like delving too deeply into his employment status,
preferring to talk about taking apart and rebuilding old computers.

"I've switched job coaches," he said. Smiling, he added: "And I've told
my job coach that the No. 1 way to find a job is through networking."