Benefits Ending for One Million Unemployed (nytimes.com)

Politics aside, the point of submitting this article is to help one of the profiled individuals find a job. He's an unemployed programmer in Virginia - 68 years old. Broader question is, how do hackers of that age find jobs. Is it conceivable that they start github accounts, contribute, and make a name for themselves? To what extent can they reboot their careers late in life?