How this Girl Scout troop offers community to migrant children

This episode of "Consider This" explores a Girl Scout troop in a New York City migrant shelter that provides a sense of community and stability for children of migrant families.

1. The Girl Scout troop provides crucial emotional and social support for migrant children adjusting to new lives in the U.S.
2. Volunteer leaders, like Juliana Alvarez, who have similar migration experiences, play a pivotal role in mentoring and supporting the children.
3. Activities like cookie sales are adapted to teach practical skills like math and familiarity with American currency.
4. The troop offers a consistent community space that contrasts with the instability of migrant life.
5. The presence of social work interns at troop meetings helps address the psychological needs of the children, monitoring for trauma, anxiety, and depression.

1: Introduction

Ari Shapiro introduces the topic and mentions the increasing number of migrants in NYC and their challenges. Ari Shapiro: "Consider this, around 180,000 migrants have come to New York City in the last two years."

2: The Troop's Activities

Details on how the troop's activities are adapted for migrant children, such as learning through cookie sales. Juliana Alvarez: "The cookie sales turn into an exercise in math and learning American currency."

3: Personal Stories

Insights into the personal migration stories of the children and their families, highlighting their resilience and dreams. Tahane: "I want to be a doctor."

4: The Role of the Community

Discussion on the broader community's role, including social workers and troop leaders, in supporting these children. Giselle Burgess: "This troop was ready to create this chapter as soon as migrants started coming into New York."

5: Closing Remarks

Ari Shapiro wraps up the episode, emphasizing the importance of understanding and supporting migrant communities. Ari Shapiro: "It's a high stakes election year, so it's not enough to just follow along."

1. Volunteer at local community centers or shelters to support migrant families.
2. Educate yourself and others about the challenges faced by migrants to foster empathy and support.
3. Consider donating to organizations that provide legal and social services to migrants.
4. Engage in community activities that promote cultural exchange and understanding.
5. Advocate for policies that support migrants and address their needs at local and national levels.

The Girl Scouts have been part of American childhood for generations. And now that quintessential experience is helping young girls, who are new to the United States get a sense of belonging. It comes through a Girl Scout troop based in one of New York City's largest migrant shelters.

The shelter has around 3,500 migrants, and all of the Girl Scouts are children of families seeking asylum. For the last few weeks, NPR's Jasmine Garsd has been spending time with them, and brings us their their story.

People

Juliana Alvarez, Ari Shapiro, Jasmine Garst, Tahane, Giselle Burgess, Meredith Mascara

Content Warnings:

None

Ari Shapiro
Juliana Alvarez and her two daughters left their home in Colombia about a year ago to escape gang violence. She remembers the moment she sat her daughters down to explain the journey they were going to embark on.

She told them were going to face difficult situations. Things will get tough. I dont know how were going to make it. I dont know where we will live when we get there. I dont know anything.

The journey was harrowing, but they all made it. Once they arrived in the United States, their struggles continued. It was tough adjusting to a new life, she says. She remembers one of her daughters coming back from school one day upset because a classmate had told her she couldn't come to this school because it was for white people. Alvarez showed her daughter how to stand up for herself in those situations, say, too bad I'm a migrant, but I'm also a girl like you.

She and her girls lived in one of New York City's biggest migrant shelters for about a year, where they found a special the Girl Scouts. Today, Alvarez is a volunteer mom leading the troop at the shelter. Consider this around 180,000 migrants have come to New York City in the last two years, and some of the shelters are fostering groups that offer kids a sense of belonging.

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See capital one.com for details. It's consider this from NPR. The Girl Scouts have been part of american childhood for generations, and for the last few weeks, NPR's Jasmine Garst has been spending time with a Girl Scout troop based in one of New York City's largest migrant shelters. All the scouts are children of families who are seeking asylum. Here's their story.

Jasmine Garst
The world is very grey today. It's raining in New York City. From the outside, this building looks like any other old hotel in midtown Manhattan. But these days it's one of the largest migrant centers in the city for families with children. Currently, around 3500 are housed here.

Inside, the light is dim and there's the constant murmur of people shuffling in and out. But somewhere in the labyrinth of hallways, there's a room that's in Technicolor.

Welcome to the meeting point for the Girl Scouts. In partnership with New York City health and hospitals, the scouts start trickling in. They're all ages k through twelve. They're all recently arrived migrant children from Latin America. Once they sit down, the first order of business is, how do you feel today?

Asks Juliana Alvarez, a volunteer troop leader. A girl named Alicia tries to respond in English, happy and happy and Valiente brave. Turns out Alicia got a shot today and she didnt cry once. Alvarez turns to another girl, Tajane.

I'm sad, she responds. Tomorrow we have to leave this shelter.

About 180,000 migrants have arrived in New York City in the last two years. City government has said it's overwhelmed and implemented a 60 day rule for shelter stays. Tahana's family's time is up and she says she doesn't know where they're going to live tomorrow.

Juliana Alvarez, the volunteer mom who leads the troop today, says she knows exactly how these kids feel. She herself lived in this shelter for about a year with her two daughters. Back in Colombia, Alvarez says her daughters were threatened by a local gang.

I was scared, she says. I heard that on the journey to the US, you get raped or killed. Alvarez says. It was terrifying. But once in the US, as a parent, your kids don't fully grasp what's happening.

They tell me, mom, when are we going back home to Colombia? Or mom, why have we been eating pizza every day for four months? During one of the breaks, I get a chance to talk to Tahane, the Girl scout who is sad today. She's ten. She's from Ecuador.

I ask what she'd like to do when she grows up, and she answers with a question.

Do you know what the sternocleidomastoid is? I have no idea. Tahane points to her neck. It's a muscle. She explains that she wants to be a doctor.

Tahane's family can reapply to stay here or to go to another shelter. According to the city comptroller, 45% of families whose time has ended have been able to stay in shelter or transfer. If she can't stay here, she has the option to stay with Troop 6000 meetings by Zoom. She frowns at that prospect.

These are my sisters now, she says. This is probably the only sense of stability that they have right now, right? Giselle Burgess is the founder and senior director of Troop 6000 for families living in the NYC shelter system. She got the idea over a decade ago when she and her daughters were living in a shelter in Queens. She says as soon as migrants started coming into New York, the troop was ready to create this chapter of Girl Scouts.

Still, a lot of the curriculum had to be adapted.

Take an activity like the cookie sales, which Girl Scouts are famous for. Here it turns into an exercise in math and learning american currency.

All around the room there's drawings of the subway lines and penciled maps of the cities, also handwritten letters. This was part of another recent project, write a letter to girls who want to come to America. Here's one of them, written by a nine year old scout. My advice for girls who want to come to the US is that you have to be very strong and you have to really want it because this country has a lot of opportunities. But the journey will not be easy.

It's a stark reminder that many of these kids recently made a journey that is dangerous, even deadly.

When I grow up, I want to save people. A lot of people die, says Astrid. She's twelve. She's from Venezuela. She wants to join the US military.

I'm ready, she says. I walked through the jungle to get here. To the US. The troop has two master of social work candidate interns who attend every meeting and monitor for signs of trauma, anxiety, and depression. Outside of these doors, it is trauma.

Meredith Mascara is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater New York. She says she thinks about hearing her own grandparents talk about immigration. When she looks at these girls, they. Will be the ones running the city. I'm sure we have elected officials that are passing through as the story goes on.

Meredith Mascara
It's what our relatives did. They'll be telling those stories to their kids and to their grandkids. And I'm proud that Girl Scouts is a part of that. But for now, it's fun and games, snacking, learning to pronounce Girl Scout cookies with names that, for a non english speaker might as well be called sternocleidomastoid cookies. Adventurous food lemonade, thin meats, trafoil.

Jasmine Garst
Grabbing this distracted reporter's microphone to perform some tunes. Hola Minam de Fline.

And by the end of the meeting, doing the traditional Girl Scout goodbye, in which you stand in a circle holding hands and singing a song. One, two, three, make new friends, but keep the o. One is silver and the other is gold. Outside, the world can feel like it's on fire, but in this tiny corner, it always is a good day to make no friends. That was NPR's immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd reporting from New York.

Ari Shapiro
This episode was produced by Katherine Fink and Mia Venkat. It was edited by Alfredo Carbajal, Jeanette woods and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. And one more thing before we go. You can now enjoy the Consider this newsletter.

We'll still help you break down a major story of the day, but you'll also get to know producers and hosts and some moments of joy from the All ThInGs COnSidered team. You can sign up@npr.org consider this newsletter it's COnsIder this from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro. It's a high stakes election year, so it's not enough to just follow along. You need to understand what's happening so you are fully informed come November.

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