Job: Chestnut Hill Grocery Staff

Age: 38

Where He’s From: Southern Iran, near the Persian Gulf

Where He Lives Now: Chestnut Hill, with his husband, Robert

Why He Left & How He Got Here: He earned three college degrees in Iran, and was an optometrist with his own business, but emigrated in 2009 fearing he would be persecuted for being gay. “I left everything behind — my family, my country and my friends, and I just took one backpack.” He went to Turkey, applied for asylum and lived in refugee housing there for a year and a half before coming to Philadelphia in October 2011. He got his green card a year after arriving, and is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen.

How He Got to the Co-op: He was living in Mt. Airy, and his landlady got him a landscaping job. While there, he met a Co-op member who knew Nazie Dana, another immigrant from Iran who’s also a member. The man asked if he could share Shahriar’s contact info with her; Shahriar agreed, and he and Nazie struck up a friendship that continues to the present. Nazie advocated (and translated for) Shahriar with then-Chestnut Hill Front End Manager Kamorin Mattern, Store Manager Dean Stefano and Jon Roesser, who was still head of HR at the time, to hire him as a cleaner in March 2012. He later went on to work the cash register before switching to grocery last year.

Outside Pursuits: He’s now taking adult-education classes in math and language arts in preparation for returning to college and getting his degree in optometry here.

Outside Passion: Cooking. He prepared all the food for his and Robert’s July 2013 wedding reception at their home. “When I was in Turkey, my friend and I rented an apartment, and when I had stress or I was upset or angry or something like that, I’d say to my friend, ‘Do you want me to cook for you?’”

Favorite Co-op Products: Produce, nuts, dried fruits and spices, Sweetwater breads, Ben Brown’s honey, Swiss Villa raw milk, Wholesome Dairy yogurt. (“The taste is like Middle Eastern yogurt.”)

A Little Co-op Love: “I always enjoy shopping in small and local businesses … When I met Robert and we got married, I moved to New Jersey, but still I worked here, and it was very difficult, because [it took] three and a half hours for me to get here … I've learned a lot from the Co-op.”

— Karen Plourde