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Powell – Chad Eagleton said he has always loved caring for animals. On this particular day, with dogs playing outside and fish swimming in tanks all over the house, Eagleton sat in his room with 29 budgerigars darting back and forth in a homemade atrium in the corner.
About two years ago, Chad and his wife, Ivy Eagleton, purchased two parakeets from their local Ace Hardware, he said over the soft, unison calls of the birds. The parakeets turned out to be male and female, “and the family grew from there.”
Then, in August 2021, Chad’s father committed suicide.
Chad began therapy, which he says ultimately changed the way he thinks about suicide. He used to think it was a selfish act.
“I know, the fear and stuff involved, unfortunately, you know [for] My dad, his mental health was just right,” Chad said. “It ended up taking his life. ”
As Chad continued in therapy, he began discussing with his therapist what was preventing Wyoming residents from seeking mental health care.
His therapist told him they needed more people in the field, saying, “We need brains to lead people out of wherever they are and into a better place.”
With that conversation stuck in his head, Chad began brainstorming ideas on how he could help people move toward mental health care. He came up with ideas to motivate people to seek health care, like paying for groceries or funding scholarships.
He landed on the Eagle’s Nest budgerigar project, named after Chad’s father (His home is designated as Eagle’s Nest on Google Maps.)
“He loved the birds … all the wildlife, the outdoors, the freedom,” Chad said. The program will provide a private grant in the name of Chad’s father, Gregory Joe Eagleton, to applicants for mental health education — using funds generated by the Eagletons for breeding and adopting parakeets.
The program is not a registered nonprofit, but it is a nonprofit.
“We’re giving grants to people, maybe to your son or daughter, to get mental health care,” Chad said. “Because they’re going to save people’s lives. They might save your son’s or daughter’s life, they might save your parents’ lives.”
ENGP has not yet awarded a grant because the project is in its infancy and grants have not yet accumulated.
Adopting a parakeet will generate funds. People can adopt the birds on a pay-as-you-go model, with all proceeds funding private grants.
For the sake of transparency, Chad said, he will post monthly donations so people can see where the money is going.
Chad and Ivy laugh that there are currently four parakeets up for adoption, and while the idea is to fund the birds, Chad and Ivy have already gifted one to a friend’s 9-year-old daughter, who has With a “traumatic trauma” background. ”
Ivy said the idea was to give girls something to connect with and take care of.
Within a few days, the girl held the little bird in her hands, which is rare in a short period of time.
“Maybe the bird needs her, maybe she needs that bird,” Chad said.
Feeding and caring for birds has also been a big help for Chad, who suffers from peripheral neurological disease. He likens the pain to Bruce Willis’ pain when he steps on glass in “Die Hard.”
“He didn’t just sit at home feeling depressed because he was in pain and couldn’t work or do anything,” Ivey said. “It gave him something that he could make tools at home, take care of them and talk to and interact with them while I was away from work all day.”
Chad says caring for the birds also helps with his nerve pain because it allows him to focus on something other than his pain.
“If I’m nurturing something else, I’m nurturing myself,” he said.
Now, Chad is in the atrium trying to get the birds to come over and say hello. He talks to them like a child, pointing out specific birds one by one—he’s able to tell them apart by color, markings, and personality alone.
There are some birds he’ll never sell, he said, pointing to a “pair” of two original birds and another flightless parakeet that Chad and Ivy rescued through a friend.
Within six months, when the weather is right to transport them, the birds will move to a larger, more accessible location at the Back Alley Boutique, also owned by the Eagletons.
Those seeking help funding their mental health nursing education may write to 223 North Bent Street.
“I just want to make the world a better place … I just want to make my community a better place,” Chad said.
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