Two young women, both parishioners at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Irvine, are setting an example for us all. They are teaching young children who are living in domestic violence shelters how to code.
Milan Narula and Katherine McPhie founded Open Sesame Coding for Kids in July of last year. Since then they have been featured in local media and have been honored with numerous awards for their efforts, including being named among OC’s Top 100 Influencers for 2018.
More importantly, they are inspiring children whose lives have been negatively impacted by domestic violence by offering them not only a respite from their struggles, but a fun activity that could blossom into a career for some.
“We go to three shelters on a regular basis,” said Narula, “and we go to other shelters intermittently. We’ve only been doing this for 6 months and yet we’ve recruited over 85 volunteers, taught over 130 students and provided almost 800 instructional hours.”
Narula says she wishes more Catholic students knew about their work. “The children are great, and the work is rewarding,” she said.
For information: codeopensesame.com