The Peter Gilgan Foundation provides laptops for students | Advancement and Alumni | Seneca Polytechnic

Like many other Seneca students, Naila Mohammed, has been facing serious challenges brought on by the pandemic: job insecurity, financial setbacks and trying to complete schoolwork while sharing a computer with others in the home.

Enrolled in Seneca’s Youth to Postsecondary Education (Y2P) program, Ms. Mohammed had also been working at a hotel, but she was laid off when the pandemic started. She lives with her parents and two sisters –– the family immigrated to Canada from Ghana in 2014 — and all lost their jobs during the pandemic. Ms. Mohammed was eventually called back to work at the hotel, but with significantly reduced hours.

Then her laptop broke.

“I had no income coming in, and I broke my laptop,” she said. “How was I going to do my assignments? I was using my sister’s laptop but she’s also taking online classes, so it was a struggle between us.” She was worrying and trying to find a way to save for a new computer.

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