Last summer the executive director of the Micah House homeless shelter in Council Bluffs learned that a Girl Scout troop was expanding to several homeless shelters in New York City.
Jaymes Sime loved the idea and posted the article he read on Facebook and tagged the Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa with the message "Our doors are open and we love cookies!”
The Girl Scouts also loved the idea and beginning February 5 girls staying at the shelter will have a chance to become join the troop.
"We are glad they answered the call on this and both agencies are excited about the potential to provide those leadership skills to the young girls staying with us," Sime says.
They will have a chance to earn badges and sell those famous Girl Scout cookies. The Micah House is one of the few homeless shelters in the country to host a troop.
"We're just happy that amidst the trauma we can provide opportunities for out kids to experience the same thing any kid would want to experience, a little bit of laughter, joy, some character building," Sime says.
He says they will have meetings once a week. The average stay for a family is a month and Sime hopes the girls who leave the shelter can stay involved or join another troop.