Proving a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, Wendy Montalbano is all aflutter when she talks about her passion for connecting special needs individuals with therapy chickens.
“Chickens can be trained to understand commands and learn their names just like a dog,” she assured me.
“We pick different breeds and colors because just watching them move around can make you feel very tranquil. At the beginning of the pandemic, I said that I think this will affect everyone more than we can imagine. Families and caregivers tell us it feels like a day at the spa.”
Wendy and her husband, Rick, are the founders of Touch My Heart, a nonprofit they run from their home in south Naperville. Consummate volunteers with the special needs adult population for more than 30 years, COVID-19 put a sudden stop to their activities.
“We used to organize events like outings and dances for adults in group homes,” Wendy said. “But when the pandemic hit, there were no day-to-day activities and in that population, regression happens quickly.”
It was around that time that Wendy decided to fulfill her dream to own chickens.
“We’d had a regular yard for 22 years and that Christmas I asked Rick if I could get a couple of backyard chickens that I planned to keep in the corner,” she said. “While Googling where to get them from, I stumbled across articles on therapy chickens which had been used in places like the UK and Australia for 20 years.”
An idea was hatched. Not only would the couple raise their own chickens, but they could use them to help the special needs community in a new way. By May 2021, they owned six female chickens and not only had their yard been turned into luxury housing for them but a place where visitors could get involved with some serious fowl play.
“Everything we grow can be fed to the chickens. We have composting stations and tabletop gardens in raised planters,” said Wendy, who is certified in backyard poultry education.
“Chickens can recognize up 100 faces and voices,” she said. “Our volunteers, the Coop Troup, help to keep them social. Chickens need to socialize with people regularly.”
The Montalbanos, who met at high school, have always shared a desire to help those with special needs. Their first date was at a special needs dance where Rick’s father was volunteering.
“Back in 1989, inclusiveness wasn’t a thing like today,” Rick said. “Before 1970, there was a stigma attached to children with disabilities so they were often sent to institutions. My father was always passionate about helping them.”
They founded Touch My Heart in 2010.
“Illinois was one of the worst states for care of adults with special needs so we developed a social base to help them get the most out of life,” Wendy said.
Since then the nonprofit has expanded its reach. They helped the Boy Scouts of America start a program to integrate those with special needs and 18 months ago began a partnership with 4H, the agriculture youth program. Last year they gave up their jobs to concentrate on Touch My Heart full time.
“Now we are working harder than ever,” Wendy said. “During the pandemic we also started a food bank so we also have volunteers delivering nonperishables to group homes.”
Said Rich: “Wards of state, which most of the adult special needs populations are, only get a $200 a month food stipend in Illinois. Between April and the end of 2021, we donated over $350,000 worth of goods thanks to the generosity of a lot of people. We knew how desperate the need was.”
The couple also offer virtual classes as well as weekly visits to their back yard farm. Along with their volunteers, they also teach urban gardening.
Wendy has plenty of heartwarming stories of just how beneficial those visits can be.
“We had one man who came in was low functioning and nonverbal,” she said. “We knew he wouldn’t want to hold a chicken but I picked out Shirley, who doesn’t react to jerky movements. His helper helped him to stroke Shirley while I held her. He was very anxious but then suddenly took a deep breath. His helper said she had never seen him relax like that before.”
Another woman sat as far away as possible from the chickens because she was scared.
“She watched while everyone else petted them and at the end I asked if they were sure no one else wanted a turn,” Wendy recalled. “The woman was rocking, saying, “I do, I don’t,” over and over. Her caregiver helped me to put Shirley on her lap. The woman screeched but then started giggling while she petted her. It was beautiful.”
The couple is now hoping to move the farm to a larger location.
“We’d love to stay in Naperville if we can, to around two to three acres,” Rick said. “If someone would be able to donate the land, that would be wonderful.”
Volunteers are always needed. If you’re not comfortable handling chickens, they also need farm hands, gardeners and food delivery drivers.
“It is said you have never lived until you do something for someone who can never repay you,” Rick said. “We just want to bring joy and happiness, and this is a happy place.”
For more information, go to www.touchmyheart.gives.
Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007.