There is an old saying that goes, "Walk a mile in their shoes."

Jules Colombino enters a small room, filled with sandals; not just any sandals mind you, these sandals are literally carved from used automobile tires.

Each pair comes with a story.

"After the earthquake in Haiti, I felt really strongly called to respond to the disaster," Colombino said.

Jules had worked for groups that provided aid before, but she had never seen anything like Haiti after the earthquake in 2010.

"People were barefoot because they had lost everything, and the women needed jobs. It was really just this very naive, actually just a concept, that we'll just make some shoes out of tires."

That was the foundation for Rebuild Globally. While there was plenty of free castoff tires, and even willing workers, Jules is no expert tire cobbler. 

"Our first tire sandal weighed about 14 pounds," said Colombino.

The Haitian artisans learned to use the sidewalls and hand carve the rubber into shape. Recycled leather and padding add softness.

Experts from Nike even taught them how to put in arch support.

Now, four years and some 60 revisions later, Rebuild Globally can offer a high quality product sold in name stores.

Originally, four women were working with Rebuild when the company began. Now they employ 15.

"With the women we work with, they have gotten out of the tent camps. They've bought their own land, they've built their own houses. Their kids are off the street, families are back together. They're prosperous and they're surviving," said Jules.

Rebuild has a headquarters on two acres of donated land that plows profits back into the community.

"We have a school for kids and we do all kinds of training programs and things in our community," Colombino said. "But the purchase of the sandals goes back into the business that are owned by the Haitian artisans, so everything goes back to them."

Jules would like to grow this social enterprise to help other impoverished areas of the world, but for now, she's happy her adopted village is starting to thrive again.

It's more than just work to Jules. "I mean, that's why I breathe, you know, I was lucky to get to be a part of it."

Haiti's unemployment rate is nearly 79 percent. Rebuild is paying the education costs for 24 young people who will get guaranteed jobs when they graduate.