Darnell Blacksdale graduated from Morehouse College in 2008. In a letter to Mel, Darnell said that his favorite part of living at the Youth Home was the exposure he had to animals and horses. “At first, I was iffy about it then, as the program went on, I felt like I had a bond with the horses on one of my trips to the barn, I met you and one thing I can remember the most was that you said we need to get groomed (I thought horses get groomed, not people).”