Maplewood Park Apartments
Education Partner: Renton Technical College

Chris Rhodes, Property Manager Don Moore, Supervisor

"When we purchased four new buildings, we hired three refugees as service technicians. They had the desire to work, but they needed to be trained. The English barrier was one thing; the cultural difference was another. A Vietnamese worker who tried to move a 90-pound hot water tank by himself needed to understand why we wanted him to ask for help. The teacher shadowed them on the job. Say there was an electrical problem in an apartment, she broke down how to make the resident calm, how to be in charge and fill out work orders. Half of the training was on our time; half of it was on their time. The teacher accommodated our schedule and what our needs were and molded the program to that. After the program was over I could definitely see an improvement. They learned how to communicate better, how to say, 'I don't understand,' and ask for more information. Before they wouldn't go to Chris becasue they were afraid of talking to the boss. They understand better how things work here now."