Philly Goat Project (PGP) was founded in 2018 by Karen Krivit (a social worker) and her daughter Lily Sage (a funeral director) with humble means and a mission to provide accessible wellness activities in nature with animals in the city of Philadelphia.
During her 30-year career as a social worker and resource consultant in Philadelphia it became clear that providing person-centered community-led opportunities that were accessible, hands-on and free offered a more promising way for communities to flourish. Karen’s work was inspired by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris who proved that social connection, intergenerational participation, and access to nature were essential ingredients to creating meaningful enduring change for all. The question was how to bring all these elements together. The answer was: goats!
Goats are fun, smart, clean and “people-sized” herd animals that can be cared for by a large group of humans. Goats live in “families” just like us and have relationships with each other that are easy for visitors to observe and relate to.
Since its founding in 2018, PGP has built a staff and board of caring, diverse people, assembled a team of over 140 dedicated volunteers, and engaged over 1 million people in goat-assisted activities at their home at The Farm at Awbury Arboretum and in the greater Philadelphia region. PGP has doubled its reach every year that it has been in operation and our team continues to expand and enrich our programming as fast as funding will allow. We hope to see you at our next event!
