When money got tight for surgery tech student Daima Anderson, she thought the easiest way to support her three kids was to sell drugs.

Anderson will tell you now that there is no easy way out of hard work, but she didn’t learn this valuable lesson until she first got caught by police.

A single mother, her record made it difficult to find an honest job.

Then she found the YWCA. The non-profit offered her job training and even vouchers for work tools.

When she finished the class, Walsh Construction hired her to work on the YWCA’s new low-income housing development in the Issaquah Highlands.

“I feel like I’m giving back,” she said. “These are the people who are helping me, and I’m a part of helping someone else.”

Breaking ground a year ago, the project is still on track to open summer 2011.

Called the Family Village, the large apartment complex will be able to help people like Anderson with not only affordable housing, but also job training, said spokesperson Cathy MacCaul.

The goal of the project isn’t to provide temporary housing for the homeless, but to help prevent homelessness with affordable permanent housing, she said.

Homelessness looks different for women on the Eastside. Many couch surf, sleep in their cars or in abandoned houses, she said.

Housing prices are so high on the Eastside, it’s difficult for low-income workers to work near home.

As the YWCA vets applicants, it will focus on families and those already connected to the Issaquah community, she said. “It’s the barista at the local coffee shop. It’s the checker at the grocery store.”

Rent for the 146 apartments ranges from $400-$1,000 for flats to 3-bedroom apartments. The rates are determined by a sliding scale.

The project broke ground about a year ago, and the first residents are expected to move in this summer. The entire project is expected to finish by fall.

While small, the apartments have 9-foot ceilings to accommodate for taller windows, which flood the rooms with natural light.

Built to last, the building is made of materials with a 50-100 year life expectancy. The construction is LEED Green certified, meaning it’s easy on the environment.

“This is somewhere where people can come home, and be happy to be home,” Anderson said.

The attractive 2.4-acre site will have several courtyards, and a plaza will welcome the public into a community building.

An on-site childcare center will have subsidized spaces for residents.

A sky bridge is planned to connect the Family Village to the top floor of the park and ride parking garage.

The YWCA has had a vision for low-income housing on the Eastside for over a decade, but this project came together when King County required Port Blakely to provide affordable housing as a part of its development of the Highlands, said Linda Hall, housing development director.

After the YWCA decided it couldn’t afford the land, Port Blakely donated the $7 million property.

“Every now and then you get an incredible opportunity,” Hall said. “This has been a project of a lifetime for me.”

So far the YWCA has raised about $46 million of the $52 million project primarily through grants.

The less debt the YWCA takes on, the cheaper the rent, Hall said.

“Everywhere there are families that need help,” Anderson said. “If I would have known that I could have gotten this help before, I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation in the first place.”