Today at 3 p.m., NYT reporter discusses her year with Scout troop for homeless girls

New York Times reporter Nikita Stewart will discuss her year with Troop 6000, the first Girl Scout troop founded by and for girls living in the shelter system in Queens, N.Y., at a Headliners book event on Thursday, May 21, at 3 p.m.

Stewart is the author of “TROOP 6000: The Girl Scout Troop That Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World,” which became available for sale on Tuesday, May 19. She will be interviewed by National Press Club President Michael Freedman in an online event open to the public.

To join the livestream or download a calendar invitation, click here.

Freedman will also take questions from the audience. Send your questions here: [email protected] 

Nearly 12,000 families with children living in New York City’s shelter system. A report from the National Center for Homeless education found more than 1.5 million public school students nationwide experienced homelessness at some point during the 2017-2018 academic year.

In 2017, Stewart spent more than a year chronicling the experiences of the girls of Troop 6000, a Girl Scout troop founded by Giselle Burgess, a young mother with a full-time job who lived with her five children in one room at a Sleep Inn in Queens after the family was evicted from their home. Eventually, that idea would spread through 20 shelters in New York City and then throughout the country.