Mohamad Alkenss arrived alone to Louisville in May 2015, a couple months after his
21st birthday a
nd alm
ost three years after registering with the United Nations as a refugee. In 2012, he and his family fled Syria for Jordan. Old enough to be on his own "case", he was scheduled to fly alone to the U.S. His family, including his m
other, father, sister, and two brothers, stayed in
Jordan to await their travel plans.
While he was in Jordan,
he finished high school, began interior design studies,
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Mohamad Alkenss demonstrates his work as an assembly line associate.
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and worked in sales. Soon after landing in Louisville, Mohamad started looking for work because he said he wanted to help support his family when they arrived. Once he obtained his employment documentation, he regularly met with job developers to create a resume and practic
e interviewing. When he heard from KRM's employment team about an opening for an assembly line associate, he was eager to apply. The company had never before hired refugees through KRM, yet they were interested in meeting Mohamad because of his background and experience using AutoCAD
(computer-aided design) software.
Less than two months after arriving to Louisville, Mohamad passed all of the company's pre-employment assessments, earned an interview, and started his new job at Integrated Manufacturing and Assembly (IMA), assembling automotive seats and seat structures for Corvette and Mercedes vehicles. The following week, Mohamad reunited with his family when they arrived to Louisville, and now they are all living under one roof again.
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Nate Wynn (supervisor) and KRM client Mohamad Alkenss at work at Integrated Manufacturing and Assembly (IMA).
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Mohamad has be
en working full-time for almost two months now. IMA has agreed to pay for a portion of
his education and now also welcomes referrals for other refugee applicants. On behalf of M
oh
amad an
d his family, Kentucky Refuge
e Ministries thanks IMA, including Brent Roth and Stacey Walker, for an employment partnership that supports refugees who are seeking
self-suffic
iency in a new home.