CHICAGO — Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and his graduate students at the University of Chicago are reaching across the state line to help the battered steel town of Gary, Ind.

The university's Harris School of Public Policy is announcing the initiative Tuesday. Daley is a distinguished senior fellow at the school.

Karen Freeman-Wilson called Daley as she was running for mayor of Gary last year. She says she wanted his ideas about the challenges her city faces, such as abandoned buildings and crime.