{"id":69209,"date":"2018-01-15T11:54:35","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T16:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?p=69209"},"modified":"2020-09-03T05:52:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T09:52:45","slug":"in-wake-of-hurricane-harvey-weworks-nathan-lenahan-mobilizes-the-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/employee-spotlight\/in-wake-of-hurricane-harvey-weworks-nathan-lenahan-mobilizes-the-troops","title":{"rendered":"In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, WeWork’s Texas general manager mobilizes the troops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The day Nathan Lenahan was supposed to start in his new job at WeWork, he got a call from his commanding officer at the Texas Army National Guard. Hurricane Harvey had devastated Houston, and they were deploying right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenahan\u2014who already had a bag packed and ready\u2014hit the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s such a strong sense of giving back to the community at WeWork,\u201d says Lenahan. \u201cEveryone immediately knew why this was so important, telling me: \u2018Do what you have to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spent much of his deployment on a recovery team, rescuing stranded troops and pulling out military vehicles that were stuck in feet of mud. It was grueling work, but as Lenahan puts it, \u201cat least you sleep well at night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be close to three weeks before he\u2019d return to the office, finally beginning his position as Texas general manager. By that point he was already planning his return to Houston\u2014this time with a team of more than two dozen WeWork staffers around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t hard to find volunteers willing to go to Houston,\u201d says Lenahan. \u201cIn fact, we had so many that we had to turn some of them away. They felt so empowered to do the right thing. It was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WeWork employees volunteered to support those affected by Hurricane Harvey by ripping open floors and walls in 80-degree heat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lenahan would help lead a team that would \u201cmuck and gut\u201d homes damaged by floodwaters. That included ripping out floors that were warped and walls that were covered with mold. They toiled for several days in temperatures that regularly reached over 80 degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople ask me how it was different from working with the military,\u201d says Lenahan. \u201cReally, it wasn\u2019t that different. Everyone just wanted to do anything they could to help people in need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Besides assisting homeowners, the WeWork team also removed about two to three tons of sand and silt from the Houston Police Memorial in Buffalo Bayou Park. In the blazing sun, they lifted out the debris, bucket by bucket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenahan says he\u2019s lived in Texas for 11 years, \u201clonger than any place I\u2019ve ever lived.\u201d It\u2019s where he\u2019s raised a family, and where he started\u2014then sold\u2014his own company. He feels a strong commitment to give back to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since returning to his job, Lenahan has made veterans\u2019 issues one of his priorities. He\u2019s focusing on WeWork\u2019s commitment to hiring 1,500 veterans over the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt might not sound like a big number, but it\u2019s more than a third of our current staff,\u201d says Lenahan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he\u2019s on the team helping to roll out WeWork\u2019s Veteran in Residence program. Later this month he\u2019s hosting a launch party for a space in Austin that is providing free office space in specially designed quarters for 10 veterans who are starting their own companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s also on the lookout for how WeWork can lend its expertise in times of natural disasters. He says he was proud that after an earthquake rocked Mexico City, the company was able to open its offices as mobile headquarters for the Red Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow cool is it that our team is able to just jump in and help where they need us most?\u201d he asks. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how we can access a situation and figure how we can make the biggest impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n