A Naperville nonprofit offering chicken therapy to those with special needs will be moving to a new location in 2024.
Touch My Heart will head to Sycamore
Rick and Wendy Montalbano’s group, Touch My Heart, will move to a farm in Sycamore next spring. They will share the space with another organization, yet to be disclosed.
“It’s another charity that does very similar work to what we do, just with a different demographic,” said Rick Montalbano at Tuesday’s Naperville City Council meeting. “And they’re on 33-acres. They reached out to us the first week of September.”
Rick Montalbano said during the meeting that he wanted the group to remain in Naperville, but couldn’t pass up on the opportunity in Sycamore.
“We’ve had dozens of people reach out to us offering us use of their property,” said Rick Montalbano. “They live on three or four acres…we had to find something locally that would be five acres or more. So we have an agricultural exemption or continue to look at properties, and we have looked at a lot, but (Sycamore) was a sure thing from the beginning.”
Amended decision from August meeting
In August, city council imposed a 12-month limit for Touch My Heart to leave its neighborhood location.
Naperville officials deemed the operation “too intensive” for a single-family residential property and required them to comply with Naperville Municipal Code provisions. The Montalbanos reduced the number of chickens from 16 to 12 and installed a six-foot privacy fence.
They were also told to remove a wheelchair-accessible structure and a portable toilet. But at Tuesday’s meeting, Rick Montalbano said both of these were necessary for the operation before their move.
The dais had questions about the wheelchair-accessible structure expansion, which is a chicken run with a small ramp and wide doors.
“The structure allows three or four people to be in there,” said Rick Montalbano. “Whether it’s students in the transition programs or the community that we serve. They have a caretaker and/or their staff member in there while they interact with the chickens.”
City staff were aware of the structure’s existence but had not completed an inspection to determine if it complies with standards from The Americans with Disabilities Act.
Councilman Benny White showed support for Touch My Heart keeping the expansion over the next year.
“Based on the fact that you found the spot, and we can do this up through the date that’s recommended, I’m absolutely fine with keeping that structure,” said White.
The rest of the council agreed, voting unanimously to allow the nonprofit to keep a wheelchair-accessible structure and a portable toilet on the premises through June 30, 2024, so they can continue operating.
Rick Montalbano said he was confident Touch My Heart would be settled in its new location months before the deadline.
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