Housing-based mentoring hits home for low-income residents and volunteers

In the study room at Greenwood Public Library, Maggie (not her real name) who is 38 and lives in the nearby Cate Apartments, and Carrie Danielson, a 33 year-old Western Washington University graduate, chat and laugh like old friends.

Actually, the women have known each other for just five weeks. They were brought together by a partnership between Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education and Seattle’s nonprofit Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). The program pairs tenants of its buildings looking to gain job skills with university students and faculty who have studied adult education. LIHI owns and operates the Cate Apartments.