When Boris arrived in the United States from Ukraine through HIAS Immigration & Citizenship more than 20 years ago, he had $300 in his pocket and a goal of finding a job to support his young family. Since then, he has helped other new refugees secure employment at the same company he has worked at for the last 23 years.  

Boris’ employment journey began with JVS Career Counselor Rosa Simon, who assessed his English and referred him to ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. He already had a high-level engineering degree but was ready to take on any role Rosa recommended.   

“I came to the country with almost no language and not too much experience in anything except sales, which I was not able to do having the language barrier,” Boris said. “Rosa helped me at every single step, assuring that I would be taken care of. She helped with my resume and setting up job interviews.”  

Rosa found a company with Russian owners and other Russian-speaking employees that had an assembly/disassembly position available in its warehouse, and that’s where Boris started. The company, now called Full Circle Electronics, is an end-to-end electronics recycling solutions provider for scalable asset commissioning.  

“He was so grateful,” Rosa said. “He said, ‘I love that I’m working and that I can support my family.’”   

Over the years, Rosa would check in on Boris: he was promoted several times from his general laborer position where he sorted and disassembled computer equipment, eventually learning to do everything in the warehouse, including data entry, forklift driving, computer testing, and managing different teams. Boris became a warehouse manager for a single location, then advanced to be the company’s director of operations for three locations, and his pride in his work shows through.  

“Green starts here,” he said, gesturing to the activity in the Elk Grove warehouse. “Nothing that you see here is going to end up in a landfill.”  

When the company had open positions, Rosa would contact Boris because she was representing several immigrant job seekers looking for work. Boris arranged interviews for roles in the warehouse, accounting, and IT departments, and the company ultimately hired Rosa’s candidates.   

Boris has been instrumental in helping to secure positions for 25 of Rosa’s job-seeking refugees, providing the perfect opportunity for him to show his gratitude for her role in helping him secure his first job.  

“I was excited to help get more immigrants hired, just as I was helped 23 years ago,” he said. “It was important to me to help those whose shoes I was in. To me, it truly is a blessing to be in the position to help, and I hope to continue helping for as long as I can.”  

Boris’ gratitude originates with JCFS and Rosa.  

“First and the most important is the quality of the service provided by the organization and Rosa Simon personally,” Boris said. “She is the most caring person I have ever met in my life.”