Alumnae Blog

Take a sneak peak here with this news clip about GSWW's own Girl Scouts Beyond Bars Program. Then come and enjoy the movie and popcorn with other Girl Scout alumnae!

Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Girl Scouts of Western Washington, Seattle Office
601 Valley St.
Seattle, WA

Troop 1500: Girl Scouts Beyond Bars
A film by Ellen Spiro & Karen Bernstein 2005, 68 minutes
Admission: Free (Donations Appreciated)

Their mothers may be convicted thieves, murderers and drug dealers, but the girls of Troop 1500 want to be doctors, social workers and marine biologists. With meetings once a month at Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas, this innovative Girl Scout program brings daughters together with their inmate mothers, offering them a chance to rebuild their broken relationships.

Intimately involved with the troop for several years, the directors took their cameras far beyond meetings to explore the painful context of broken families. Powerful insight comes from interviews shot by the girls themselves, which reveal their conflicted feelings of anger and joy, abandonment and intimacy—as well as the deep influence their mothers still have on them. An estimated 1.5 million children have incarcerated parents and 90 percent of female inmates are single parents. Their daughters are six times more likely to land in the juvenile justice system.

TROOP 1500 poignantly reveals how an inspired yet controversial effort by the more than 90-year old Girl Scouts organization is working to help these at-risk young girls deal with their unique circumstances and break the cycle of crime within families.

“Captures the hopes and fears of girls who are separated from their mothers who are in prison and the exciting work that Girl Scouts Beyond Bars does to bring them closer. The emotional result is both realistic and uplifting, as all the girls struggle to find their rightful places in life. Girl Scouts applauds…[this] moving and life-changing documentary.”
--Kathy Cloninger CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA

"Heartwarming and heartrending, the film shines a light on an ignored segment of society and considers how America can prevent the children of the incarcerated from feeling punished themselves."
--O, The Oprah Magazine

"Inspiring and compelling, TROOP 1500 steers clear of sentimentality and drives home the magnitude of the difficulty of breaking the cycle of crime."
--The Chicago Reader

If you have any questions or would like to RSVP, please contact Michelle Yang at (206) 826-2189 or michellehy@girlscoutsww.org.