Outreach Projects

Thank you to Kosair Charities for its generous grant in 2007 that benefited the outreach efforts of Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana!

While Girl Scouting still embodies traditional values and time-honored activities, today's Girl Scout organization is also constantly changing to fit the need's of today's girls and communities. Girl Scouts has been an inclusive organization since its birth in Savannah, GA, in 1912, allowing girls of many ages and all nationalities to participate. Today's technologies in communication have allowed the organization to go from being merely inclusive to aggressively reaching out to communities that may not have had opportunities to participate in the program previously. Girl Scout troops and groups can be found in housing projects, transitional housing, shelters for the homeless, and among those girls whose mothers are incarcerated.

Girl Scouts Beyond Bars

Started in March of 1995 after one year of planning, this program provides Girl Scouting for daughters of incarcerated women. Approximately 75 percent of incarcerated women are mothers with at least two children. In most instances, these mothers were the primary caregivers of their children prior to confinement, and the majority resumes their parenting role after release. The primary goals of this project are to (1) reduce the trauma suffered by the daughter as a result of separation due to the mother's incarceration; (2) attempt to preserve the mother/daughter relationship during the incarceration through enhanced visitations and increased communication opportunities; (3) and to ultimately reduce the likelihood that the daughter will participate in at-risk behaviors by exposing her to the Girl Scout Program, which builds character, self-esteem and confidence, as well as provides positive role models for girls. The program presently serves 44 girls in community meetings held at West Chestnut Street Baptist Church on the second and fourth Saturday monthly and serves 15 girls and their incarcerated mothers on the first and third Saturday monthly meetings held at Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, Pewee Valley, Kentucky. Mothers who have been released from incarceration can be active in working with the troop alongside their daughters, and the organization unites incarcerated mothers and their daughters twice a month for Girl Scout meetings and activities at KCIW. A couple times a year, there are even mother-daughter sleepovers there.

The Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program combines traditionally-structured troop activities/field trips offered at community sites with Corrections Center-based Girl Scout meetings involving both mothers and daughters. The Girl Scout program is designed to cultivate the essential building blocks of girls' development, helping them develop resiliency - the ability to cope with and bounce back from problems and risks they experience. Adult volunteers specifically address the problems associated with the girls' mother's incarceration and the separation it imposes. The program offers age-appropriate activities for a fluctuating number of girls from age 5 through high school.

This program is unique for the following reasons:

1. This program is a collaboration between a major national youth organization and an adult correctional facility. It is designed to serve children of incarcerated persons. (We have also collaborated with many other community agencies to enhance this program: Indiana University Southeast, University of Louisville Lady Cardinals, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Alpha Kappa Alpha and others.)

2. Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana and the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women model is unique in that it provides more than enhanced parent child visitation opportunities; a continuum of care is provided to the child in the community via "outside" Girl Scout troop activities.

3. The GSK/KClW model may help researchers to determine whether the Girl Scout program increases the likelihood that these at-risk children will not engage in criminal or otherwise negative behaviors. The population we serve consists of the following targeted areas: inner city (including Village West, Park Duvall, Shepherd Square, and Portland), all of the inner city housing projects, and the Newburg area.

It costs nearly $40,000 per year to operate the GSBB program. This represents direct costs, such as staff salaries and benefits, transportation, membership dues, program supplies, cultural events, pins, postage, snacks/meals, field trips, volunteer mileage reimbursement, and program aides. We are always looking for funding sources to operate and enhance the program. We have received several grants from individuals and several foundations, including V. V. Cooke, Gannet, and Girl Scouts of the USA.

There is a related article on this program available at Women's eNEWS.

GSBB took a trip to the Girl Scout Birthplace in Savannah, Georgia, in October 2007. Visit the trip report to see more details on this experience.

Girl Scouts on the Move

Girl Scouts on the Move began in the fall of 1997 as the Tingley House Project and was expanded on October 3, 2000 to serve girls in all the temporary shelters in metropolitan Louisville. The girls being targeted for this program face profound emotional hardships. When they are most vulnerable, suffering the consequences of an uncertain future, they lack a network of support, are without program/activities, and need consistency, positive role models, and experiences that structure their time and direct their frustration and energies in constructive directions. Girl Scouts gives them the direction and support they need to cope with the changes and uncertainties in their lives. Girl Scouts on the Move also gives girls the opportunity to explore individual talents and learn practical self-care information. They learn to feel good about themselves - developing positive self-esteem from activities designed for their special emotional and social needs. Anticipated outcomes of this project are (1) decreased incidences of girls running away from shelters where they are staying; (2) enhanced cooperative behavior at school and in the shelter; and (3) improved communication among providers and caseworkers regarding special needs or problems a girl may be experiencing.

Girl Scouts in Group Homes

To keep up with the individual needs of girls living in at-risk environments, Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana has a Girl Scout Program at Maryhurst's Treasure Home for Girls. These girls have a history of disciplinary problems, truancy, and emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

Girl Scouting in the Hispanic/Latina Community

This initiative to bring Girl Scouting to the Hispanic/Latina community began in 1999 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Americana Community Center was seeking to offer a values-based program and additional educational opportunities for children and adults in a community that includes Americana Education and Recreation Campus. Residents of the campus represent over 27 languages and 42 cultures. They had already seen success with a short-term ESL class for both girls and boys which included a Girl Scout program led by Deborah Barnes-Byers, who was both a Girl Scout staff member and a member of the Hispanic/Latina Coalition. Girl Scouts used Spanish-speaking facilitators to effectively introduce children and their families to role models in different social and economic circles, as well as provide practical cultural experiences in a supportive and non-academic atmosphere.

Because of the strong family culture, the first barrier was one of trust. The program aides worked very diligently to ensure that parents could feel comfortable with them in order for their daughters to participate. Transportation was the biggest hurtle. Several volunteers were enlisted to pick up the girls at schools or homes and transport them back after each meeting. As the program gained strength, it was expanded to additional locations and girls were being transported to the Americana Community Center for meetings. The membership goal for this project was 50 girls, and that objective was met and surpassed in a relatively short period of time.

Future goals of the project are to identify additional adult leaders and role models, to have girls participate in council fundraisers so that may become a more self-sufficient troop and to learn the skills associated with doing these fund-raisers, and to increase parent participation.

For the most part, the Hispanic/Latina community was previously unaware of Girl Scouts. With the organization of this troop, the awareness has heightened. The girls participating in the troop are excited and proud to be Girl Scouts and look forward to meetings. The troop has allowed them to further develop relationships and friendships with other Hispanic/Latina girls who attend their schools and live in their community. Because the troop consists of girls from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other Hispanic/Latina communities, they have learned to respect different religions and cultures. They have also learned more about American culture by experiencing opportunities within the greater Metro Louisville community. There were some girls who, when first joining the Girl Scout program, displayed some inappropriate behavior about themselves and found it hard to work with others. However, upon learning and reviewing the Girl Scout Law and Promise, they have become more positive in "respecting themselves and others." The Hispanic/Latina women volunteers have also developed self-confidence and improved self-esteem. They have identified the need that the girls should experience more American culture so they may become successful American citizens.

Currently, other Hispanic/Latina Girl Scout troops are being formed in our council, including one at St. Rita Church in Louisville and one at El Centro Hispano La Esperanza (the Hispanic Resource Center), located in a section of Bowling Green, KY that has a very high Hispanic population. The second troop has a Hispanic troop leader and is assisted by Girl Scout staff person Brenda Warren. There are seven girls ranging from Preschool to Junior High School; about half of the girls speak English, and half do not. This troop plans to earning badges, get uniforms, and go camping this summer. The Hispanic Resource Center has a computer room, several sewing machines, and a full kitchen, so much of the badge work planned will encompass nutrition and technology. Their first project is to learn the Promise and Law in both English and Spanish.

Multicultural Troops

In addition to Hispanic/Latina Girl Scout troops, Girl Scouts has explored organizing multicultural troops in which nationalities and indigenous languages vary. Bowling Green, Kentucky, boasts the first multicultural Kentuckiana Girl Scout troop at Potter Gray Elementary School, which began in the fall of 2002. The girls meet once per month throughout the school year. At this time, this troop has 10 girls with such varied nationalities as Bosnian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean. The girls have truly loved participating in Girl Scouts and are eager to start meeting again when school is back in session.

A second multicultural troop is being formed in the same city to meet the needs of girls in the Bosnian Community. The troop is led by a staff person with the International Center in Bowling Green and was started as a customized troop in one of the elementary schools with a high Bosnian population. The troop has since moved to one of the International Center's offices, and it boasts 12 girls, with 6 more currently in the process of completing paperwork. Although it is not designed to be an all-Bosnian troop, the meeting place is in the heart of the Bosnian Community. All girls in the neighborhood will be encouraged to join. Transportation is the biggest concern for this community, as many of the parents work second- and third-shift jobs. It is the hope of the International Center that by involving girls, they can better serve the adults. It is always the Girl Scout intention that the adults in the community will become leaders of the troops.

Other Special Projects for Girls and Their Families

Several service centers in our council have formed various Girl Scout troops and groups based on the needs in their unique areas. A Caveland (Bowling Green, KY) Girl Scout troop comprised of girls with special needs was formed in the fall of 2001 by Girl Scout staff person Felicia Bland and her daughter's Functional and Mental Disabilities (FMD) teacher. This troop is looking forward to attending Camp Happy Days, a camp for girls with special healthcare needs (sponsored every year by Bowling Green Parks and Recreation), in summer 2003. When this camp was held the following year, the troop was able to expand by 17 girls. This year, Felicia hopes to reach girls through their FMD classes, as well. Caveland also started a program for four-year-old girls through Head Start. The Pennyroyal Service Center (Owensboro, KY) formed a "Read to Lead" group to encourage girls to enjoy reading and overcome reading obstacles. The Heartland Service Center (Elizabethtown, KY) organized a group through the Migrant Education Center for migrant worker families comprised predominantly of people from Hispanic/Latino regions. Heartland also has been working on a pilot project through the Child Development Center at Fort Knox for girls ages four to five. The Metro Service Center has a very strong "Read to Lead" program and "Play It Safe" program.