Nathan
Morris

Life at a local Philadelphia non-profit has been stable as more kids have turned to Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club to find a safe space.

“I want to keep kids off the streets,” founder Ellis “El-Dog” Ferrell, 83, said. “I want to give them something to do besides nothin’ because if they got nothin’ to do, they might get into trouble.”

Ferrell said the non-profit space in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philly is a safe haven for kids of any age to come and engage with the horses while building character and community. “We’re not just teaching kids how to ride,” he said. “We teach ‘em how to take care of ‘em. You gotta know how to take care of ‘em if you want to ride ‘em.”

That includes feeding the horses, keeping proper maintenance on them and the stables, and knowing how to saddle them up before a ride.

Ferrell said he wants the horses at non-profit to continue keeping kids safe long after he is gone. “I just want people to remember me for keeping these kids out of trouble,” Ferrell said as he sat in a foldable chair wearing a shirt that read “Black Lives Matter” and a brown cattleman hat. “When I’m gone, they can say, ‘he taught me.’ That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.”

This is an ongoing project.