This book is about poor women, many of them single mothers, Aboriginal, or both, who have defied the odds to become apprenticing carpenters. To do so they have juggled child-care schedules, left abusive partners, and kicked drug habits to participate in a unique intensive retraining program. Through the voices of the women participants and their instructors, Margaret Little analyzes the program to reveal the struggles and triumphs of low-income women. She demonstrates that there is a desperate need for retraining programs that provide real opportunities for economic independence. She also argues that, in an era of workfare and time-limited welfare, such programs are an effective strategy for welfare reform.