Bartram's Garden Leading Push To Build New Stables For Concrete Cowboys
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A program in Philadelphia that keeps children out of trouble by teaching them how to ride and care for horses has been universally praised. The community is now saddling up to keep the program going.
The Concrete Cowboys have been around for 20 years. For the past three years, their stables have been in Southwest Philadelphia.
But there is a new push for fundraising for a brand new facility that would stand just a few hundred yards away.
"It keeps them busy with the horses," Malik Divers said. "Riding and they have their minds on the horses."
For more than two decades, Divers has helped at-risk youth develop a passion for horse riding.
"They love it. They love it all the time," Divers said.
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Each year, more than a dozen teens and children learn to care for and ride big Sonny and Shadow, part of a nonprofit known as the Concrete Cowboys.
"This is my new whip," a teen rider said. "I just got it out of the dealership."
The goal is to keep kids out of trouble and off the streets.
"A lot of them have moved on and got jobs," Divers said. "And they carried on with their lives."
Now those with Bartram's Garden, a national historic landmark on the banks of the Schuylkill River, are ensuring that the Concrete Cowboys can continue helping those at need for years to come.
Bartram's Garden plans to build new 2,000-square-foot stables near the foot of the river in the shadow of the city's skyline.
"It's about 50 acres of incredibly beautiful landscape, where we invite people to come and enjoy," Bartram's Garden Executive Director Maitreyi Roy said. "We are just launching the fundraising to locate the new home for the Concrete Cowboys. When I see the horses and I see them out on the trail, it really brings a new life and new excitement to the community."
Just ask Lyrik Nelson, who at 5 years old has already developed a passion for riding.
"I think it's going to be great," Lyrik said.
The hope is, with a new facility, many more will follow in these very loud footsteps.
"It'll bring more people into the program," Divers said.
Bartram's Garden has set up a GoFundMe page with the hopes of raising about $20,000 to help build the stables.
