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![\"RUTH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4328178_web1_260618-Shekter-Grad-Prin-2--.jpg\")
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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Princess Nakpil receives her graduation certificate from Seyward Goodhand, the creative writing instructor and Aaron Klassen, Shelter U program director, in the chapel at the Salvation Army Thursday. <\/p>\n
In January 2025, Booth\u2019s Aaron Klassen launched the first of a series of humanities courses \u2014 a project he dubbed Shelter U \u2014 out of the Salvation Army\u2019s Winnipeg Centre of Hope.<\/p>\n
Klassen wanted to include post-secondary education as part of the site\u2019s typical wraparound services, ranging from referrals for addiction support to help setting up a bank account.<\/p>\n
Emergency shelter residents have been invited to participate in four courses, free of charge, alongside Booth students.<\/p>\n
The electives, each spanning 12 weeks, included music sociology; visual thinking; qualitative research methods; and most recently, creative writing. They were all modelled after traditional university courses, although they didn\u2019t include any more than 21 students at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful opportunity for people who are in transition, like myself,\u201d Lisa Trudeau said after celebrating the completion of a creative writing course offered at the shelter in Point Douglas.<\/p>\n
Trudeau, 55, has been in limbo since quitting a job with built-in accommodation. Losing her unit over the winter reinforced what the veteran building manager already knew \u2014 \u201cthis market is terrible\u201d \u2014 about affordable housing options in her hometown.<\/p>\n
Shelter U, her first experience with post-secondary, was a welcome distraction that pushed her to be creative and \u201ckeep my mind sharp,\u201d Trudeau said, adding that writing poems was her highlight.<\/p>\n
Students read their work aloud when they gathered in a circle, the usual set-up at Shelter U, for an emotional farewell on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m going to be a writer from now on,\u201d said Edith Aibangbee, a full-time student in Booth\u2019s social work program.<\/p>\n
Princess Nakpil said she didn\u2019t expect to meet new friends or process the hardships that led her to seek refuge through the Salvation Army when she enrolled in the course.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first aim was just to kill time\u2026 I got to express what\u2019s inside me,\u201d she said after sharing a poem about poverty and other challenges she\u2019s faced as a newcomer from the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, each of them received a certificate of completion and bouquet of carnations.<\/p>\n
The director of Shelter U, Klassen said he was \u201coverwhelmed\u201d by how engaged the students have been in the intimate classes.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Edith Aibangbee from Nigeria receives her graduation certificate from Seyward Goodhand, the creative writing instructor and Aaron Klassen, Shelter U program director, in the chapel at the Salvation Army Thursday. <\/p>\n He credited the mixed population to the program\u2019s success, citing the fact the model facilitates \u201ca dignified learning experience\u201d where everyone is made to feel like the official post-secondary student they are.<\/p>\n Half of the students in the latest cohort were living in transitional housing units. The other half are part- or full-time students who typically study out of Booth\u2019s main campus.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been really glad to see that it is possible to bridge the ivory tower and community,\u201d Klassen said, noting there\u2019s been a significant range in student ages, from young adults to seniors.<\/p>\n He said it\u2019s been equally exciting to see shelter clients pursue more post-secondary and express how the self-reflection they\u2019ve done throughout the course has made them think differently about their lives and relationships.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t One of the first registrants in Shelter U, a woman who was living in a safe house last winter, is now a full-time student who has resumed her pursuit of a bachelor\u2019s degree, which she abandoned when she fell on hard times a decade ago.<\/p>\n The Shelter U team is in talks with a handful of community agencies that are interested in hosting classes.<\/p>\n Booth is organizing a harvest dinner fundraiser in the fall to support an expansion that is anticipated to cost about $100,000 per year to cover field trips, instructor fees and other items.<\/p>\n The initial rollout was paid for by $15,000 in private donations and a roughly $60,000 grant from the Winnipeg Foundation.<\/p>\n maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Maggie Macintosh Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie<\/a>.<\/p>\n Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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