Opinion
Woman Scout cookie season is right here and also you would possibly need to purchase a field from this group
New York Metropolis-based Woman Scout Troop 6000 is within the midst of attempting to promote as most of the coveted cookies as potential earlier than this system ends on March 27.
Their mission is a well-recognized one: to lift sufficient funds so lots of of ladies within the troop can partake in varied actions, earn badges and even go to Woman Scout Camp. Nonetheless, the backstory behind Troop 6000 is kind of completely different from the remaining.
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It’s the primary Woman Scout troop designed to serve women residing in New York Metropolis’s homeless shelter system, though it’s not the primary troop to serve women experiencing homelessness within the nation.
Troop 6000 which serves women within the New York Metropolis Shelter System.
(Woman Scouts of Larger New York )
Because of the Troop 6000TM program, 1000’s of ladies from greater than 20 shelters all throughout the 5 boroughs are in a position to have an genuine Woman Scout expertise.
“Troop 6000 creates alternatives for ladies who would in any other case not have entry to Woman Scouting to develop into part of a powerful neighborhood, construct new abilities, and in the end see themselves as leaders,” Meridith Maskara, CEO of Woman Scouts of Larger New York, instructed Fox Information.
Not solely does this system is “a part of our mission is to interrupt stigmas round homelessness and present women and the world that their present circumstances don’t outline them,” Maskara added.
Of the roughly 70,000 individuals residing in New York Metropolis shelter system, most are households with kids, in accordance with the group. Of these 70,000 individuals, roughly 23,000 of them are kids beneath 18. Roughly half of that determine, roughly 12,000, are women, in accordance with the Woman Scouts.
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Troop 6000 which serves women within the New York Metropolis Shelter System.
(Woman Scouts of Larger New York )
“Households enter shelters as a result of lease is unaffordable in comparison with their earnings, there’s a scarcity of inexpensive housing in comparison with want, and girls are escaping home violence,” in accordance with the Women Scouts web site. “These causes distinction with conventional stereotypes of individuals experiencing homelessness.”
The troop historically meets each week in shelters all through town. All through the pandemic, troop leaders, have carried out weekly digital conferences, which helps preserve them from feeling “much less alone and extra hopeful.”
Troop 6000 which serves women within the New York Metropolis Shelter System.
(Woman Scouts of Larger New York )
The conferences are even run by the very ladies who’re additionally residing within the shelter system, in accordance with the Woman Scouts. These ladies, who’re additionally educated troop leaders, are paired with neighborhood volunteers, the group stated.
Like all different troops, the ladies are devoted to incomes a variety of badges overlaying subjects from STEM, monetary literacy, environmental safety, civic engagement and neighborhood service, all of which symbolize an essential achievement, in accordance with the group.
Cookie Enterprise badges particularly “show {that a} woman has developed particular abilities associated to operating their very own enterprise,” the Woman Scouts stated.
In latest weeks, droves of individuals have taken to Twitter, shedding gentle on the troop, in hopes of serving to them all through the cookie-selling season.
