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NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - His commute from Staten Island to midtown Manhattan takes over an hour, but it’s a short trip for Joe Dugbo.
The WeWork Community Service Associate waited more than a decade to come to America with his two year-old daughter after his parents fled the civil war in Liberia.
During the war, Joe says, his mother often had to walk 10 miles to find food and his family had to sleep in the bush for days.
Joe moved to New York City on March 25th, 2017 and says he’s adjusting pretty well to life in New York.
He loves how quickly everyone moves here.
Joe was one of 50 refugees WeWork hired in NYC earlier this year in partnership with the International Rescue Committee.
WeWork staffer, Fatima Duran, came up with the program to help solve the world refugee crisis.
Rui Barros, Tristate GM of WeWork, says their vision is to make the world a place where people make a life, not just a living.
At WeWork, he says, they believe that we’re all better together and the company is just fortunate to have a platform where they can take action.
Last month, WeWork Co-Founder and CEO Adam Neumann pledged to expand their refugee program and hire 1,500 refugees globally over the next 5 years.
They’re asking their member businesses to do the same.
Right now, Joe works on WeWork’s community service team at their offices on East 57th Street in Manhattan, stocking the common areas and keeping the workspaces clean.
The best thing about the job, he says, is that you learn and meet new people every day. But, the 30 year old dreams of even bigger things.
20 years from now he says he’d love to become a company manager or building manager, and have people call him the boss.
WeWork has pledged to back him.
Adam says there is no question Joe will keep growing in the company.
Once you have an opportunity, he says, no one can stop you.
While Joe used to pray to be re-united with his family, now he says, his prays daily to build a future in the United States.
And it seems, he’s well on his way.
https://www.wework.com/refugees