Powell — Chad Eagleton said he always enjoyed caring for animals. On this day, dogs were playing outside, fish were swimming in fish tanks throughout the house, Eagleton was sitting in a burrow and 29 budgerigars were flying around in a handmade atrium in the corner of the room.
About two years ago, Chad and his wife, Ivy Eagleton, purchased two parakeets from the local Ace Hardware Company, he said, listening to the gentle and consistent chirping of the birds. The parakeets turned out to be male and female, and “we grew our family from there.”
And in August 2021, Chad’s father committed suicide.
Chad began going to therapy, which eventually changed his view of suicide. Previously he considered it a selfish act.
“I know the horror that comes with that and other things, and unfortunately you know [for] Dad, my mental health has taken a turn for the worse,” said Chad. “And it ended up taking his life.”
As Chad continued to attend therapy, he began discussing with his therapist what was preventing Wyoming residents from accessing mental health care.
His therapist told him he needed more people in the field, saying, “We need brains that can lead people from wherever they are to a better place.”
The conversation stuck in his mind, and Chad began brainstorming how he could bring people into the mental health care profession. He considered ideas to create incentives for people to seek care, such as paying for groceries and funding scholarships.
He landed at the Eagle’s Nest Budgie Project, named after Chad’s father (his house was designated as the Eagle’s Nest on Google Maps).
“He loved birds… loved all wildlife, loved being outdoors, loved freedom,” Chad said. The project, in the name of Chad’s father, Gregory Joe Eagleton, will provide private grants to potential recipients of mental health care education, with funds raised by the Eagleton family from breeding and adopting parrots. to use.
This program is not a registered non-profit organization, but it is a non-profit organization.
“We are subsidizing people, potentially your son or daughter, to get mental health care,” Chad said. “Because they save people’s lives. They may save the lives of your sons and daughters, or they may save the lives of your parents.”
ENGP has not yet awarded any grants, as the project is in its early stages and grants have not yet been accumulated.
Funds are generated from parakeet adoptions. People can adopt birds on a pay-as-you-can model, with all proceeds going to private grants.
Chad said that to ensure transparency, he will publish donations each month so people can see where their donations are being spent.
Four parakeets are currently in foster care, Chad and Ivy said with a smile. The parrots will fund the grant, one of which Chad and Ivy said was “a gift to a traumatized friend’s 9-year-old daughter.” Background. ”
According to Ivy, the idea was to give the girl something to connect with and take care of.
Within days, the girl was holding a bird in her hands, which is unusual for a short period of time.
“Maybe the bird needed her, and maybe she needed the bird,” said Chad.
Keeping and caring for birds has also been of great help to Chad, who has peripheral neuropathy. He likens the pain to Bruce Willis walking on glass in Die Hard.
“He’s not just sitting at home feeling depressed because he can’t work or do anything because of the pain,” Ivy said. “Gives him something to use tools at home, take care of the kids, talk and socialize while I go to work all day.”
Chad said caring for birds also helps with neuralgia because it helps her focus on something else rather than the pain.
“If you’re cultivating something else, you’re cultivating yourself,” he said.
Now Chad is trying to get the birds to say hello in the atrium. He speaks softly like a child and points out specific birds individually. He can distinguish them only by color, pattern and character.
Some birds never sell, he points to the two original birds that “look alike” and another flightless parakeet that Chad and Ivy rescued through a friend. said while
Within six months, when the weather is perfect for transport, the birds will move to a larger, more accessible location at the Eagleton family-owned Back Alley Boutique.
Anyone seeking financial assistance for mental health care education should write to 223 North Bent Street.
“All I want to do is make the world a better place…all I want to do is make my local community a better place,” said Chad.