At Booth University College in Winnipeg, a new pilot project is offering free university-level education to vulnerable populations. With a focus on making education asaccessible as possible, Shelter U is available to candidates from shelters across the city who will take the course alongside campus-based students.

For many vulnerable people, including those experiencing homelessness, there are significant barriers to entry for education, including high tuition fees and costs associated with other necessities, such as resources, supplies and technology. To resolve this, Shelter U is available at no cost to students coming from shelters, and each student is provided with a computer for the duration of the course, ensuring that supplies and resources are equally accessible to all.

Planning for the program began during the pandemic and the pilot was approved in 2023. In the fall of 2024, an advisory committee was formed, and operational planning began in collaboration with instructors and consultants with experience teaching vulnerable individuals. Currently, the program has had attendance of between 12 and 14 students, as well as two shelter staff who attend and participate in learning exercises and provide support outside of class time.

“Shelter U aims to overcome barriers to education having to do with poverty and forced displacement,” says Aaron Klassen, assistant professor of sociology at Booth UC and program director of community and urban transformation studies (CUT).

“For students in the CUT program, and for other Booth UC students seeking practicum credit, it will offer the opportunity to gain practical experience with an inner-city-based agency working with the vulnerable, while also connecting that experience to wider urban communities and policies affecting refugees and people experiencing homelessness,” explains Klassen. “And as an innovative research program for Booth UC, it also represents some of the exciting collaborative work we do as the only urban-based, Christian liberal arts university college in North America.”

This work includes partnering with The Salvation Army Winnipeg Centre of Hope where Shelter U classes will be hosted and taught by Booth UC and Salvation Army Ethics Centre instructors.

One of the primary goals of Shelter U is to empower vulnerable individuals through education, instilling a desire for learning in people who may have previously felt it was unattainable. Shelter-based students who complete the pilot project receive a certificate of completion and a letter of reference and support as they apply for further education.

In the future, Booth UC intends to offer additional courses as well as a reading group or book club to extend learning opportunities into the summer.

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