Education a key to getting young people ‘on the right path,’ Gillingham says at inner-city scholarship fundraiser

Mayor Scott Gillingham talked inner-city education funding and its role as a tool to combat poverty and homelessness in Winnipeg at a fundraising event Tuesday.

The Westland Foundation, which provides scholarships to young people from the inner city, held its 16th annual fundraising breakfast Tuesday. Gillingham was the event’s keynote speaker.

“I really believe that there is a connection between education and the possibility of education and getting people on the right path, and avoiding some of these social challenges that we see in our city right now,” he said after the event.

The organization has raised in excess of $2.5 million and supported 1,260 students in full-time post-secondary classes, including 39 in the 2024-25 year and 22 in the 2025-26 year, through more than $750,000 in scholarships.

While high school graduation rates have slightly increased over the last decade, schools have reported struggling with absenteeism, described by some as a symptom of larger societal issues. Government documents leaked earlier this year found more than 15,000 students, including six in 10 students in a northern Manitoba school division, were chronically absent from class in 2023-24.

Westland Foundation founder John Prystanski said his goal is to ensure any student who wants to make it to a post-secondary degree is able to get there without worrying about paying for it.

“When education goes up, we have less problems in society. Doesn’t eliminate everything, but we have less, and we’re going to make better strides within our city,” he said.

“Could you imagine if every single inner-Winnipeg student had an opportunity for post-secondary education? Where would our crime levels be? Where would our addiction levels be? Where would our homeless levels be? I say proudly that they would be a lot less than what we have today.”

Sisler High School graduate and University of Winnipeg computer science student Isabella McEvoy knows how quickly access to education can change. On the first day of her third year of classes, she learned she had suddenly lost crucial funding while juggling work and a full-time course load.

It was then, she said, when the Westland Foundation stepped in, and she became one of their 2025-26 scholarship recipients. Now, she said, she’s back on track to reach her goal of being a leader in Winnipeg’s tech industry.

“I actually had four jobs at the time, and I was so full of passion for what I envisioned the community at school can be,” she said.

“And I hope every student can share a passion like this without having to worry about whether they can continue their education.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca