BERKELEY — When Meg Karki moved to the United States from Nepal five years ago after living in a refugee camp there for roughly 20 years, one of the most difficult things to do was find a job.

Even after taking language classes, he lacked the job history or references required for even entry-level positions. It took him months to get into the workforce, where he eventually found jobs at fast-casual restaurants.

Now, one Bay Area nonprofit is trying to help refugees like Karki when it comes to getting a job upon arriving in the Bay Area.

1951 Coffee Co. is gearing up to launch its first cafe, a space on Channing Way in Berkeley that will train and employ those who have come to the United States as refugees and asylum seekers, while also educating customers and the community about refugee life and issues.

The team behind 1951 Coffee Co. — which draws its name from the year the United Nations first provided definitions and guidelines for the protection of refugees — is Rachel Taber and Doug Hewitt, both former employees at the International Rescue Committee who have worked on helping refugees resettle in the United States and find jobs.

The coffee industry, Hewitt said, provides people-facing positions that promote language learning and other skills needed for employment growth. Such jobs, which often include tips, also pay better than many retail positions or other minimum wage jobs.

“This is a forward-facing position, so employees are integrating and becoming part of the community,” Taber said.

Taber and Hewitt have already started a barista-training program using a space at a church in Oakland that has a built-out cafe that was not previously used. They offer barista training in the form of courses that run for two weeks on weekday mornings. The program has helped 26 graduates so far secure jobs at Blue Bottle, Due Torri and Dropbox, among others.

The new cafe will provide employment and further job experience for the trainees, Taber and Hewitt said.

The pair had batted around the idea of opening a cafe to employ refugees in the spring of 2015 for a few months before deciding to make it happen. A friend connected them with the staff at the First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, which agreed to lease them an underused space on the ground floor. They also partnered with Montaag, a Norwegian-American research and design agency, to create design features that will help to educate cafe patrons about how refugees resettle in the United States.

Refugees are defined by the United Nations as people who have been forced to flee their countries because of persecution, war or violence and often have “well-founded fears of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.”

Generally, the International Organization for Migration arranges transportation for refugees to the United States on a loan basis, and refugees are expected to repay that loan once they settle here. Because of that, it is important for refugees to find employment as soon as possible, Taber and Hewitt said.

“We want to create a soft landing (for them), but not one that gets you stuck — one that pushes you forward,” Hewitt explained. It is important for him and Taber that the cafe has a solid business plan — a market-based solution to helping refugees integrate into the American workforce that can be replicated in any city.

Karki, who was born in Bhutan before going to Nepal and then the United States, said he hopes to see more business models like that of 1951. Having a place to acquire job training to use at the cafe or other jobs can make a world of difference to others who arrive here as refugees.

For refugees, everything from navigating their new neighborhoods without English language knowledge to taking driving tests can be a struggle. Many people who have advanced education degrees in their native countries struggle to find work when they arrive in the United States without job references or under the circumstances of fleeing their countries, Karki said.

He will work as a senior barista at the cafe and help train others who come through the program, and he hopes his own path to resettlement and U.S. citizenship will provide some encouragement for those who have just arrived.

Although 1951 Coffee Co. does not have an exact opening date, Hewitt and Taber expect to open in January at 2410 Channing Way in Berkeley. It will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.