Bird Watching at Mt. Gilead Children’s Home Takes Flight

Mt. Gilead Children’s Home resident, Lathan Thomas, unpacks some of the bird seed and feeders delivered to the Monarch group home.

The grounds at the Monarch Mt. Gilead Children’s Home are now a welcome respite for fine, feathered creatures that need a rest or a bite to eat, much to the delight of the residents.

The Montgomery County group home staff cares for youth residents who have intellectual and developmental and mental health diagnoses ranging from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, dysregulation disorder, opposition defiance disorder and anger management.

Mt. Gilead Residential Manager Angela House was trying to come up with an educational project that would interest the boys who are residents at the group home as the winter months were approaching.

“I was thinking, ‘How can we decorate the fence to make it more friendly?’ I thought of bird feeders since we are surrounded by trees. Wouldn’t it be cool to have bird feeders hanging along the fence?” she asks.

Her bird feeder idea seemed to fit the bill so she got to work to help the idea take flight.

With an unused bird feeder Angela brought from her home, the staff began to hang donated bird feeders on the group home’s fencing. A request was made internally to fellow Monarch staff. Bird feeders began arriving at the residence – and bird seed, too. “This has turned out to be a bigger project than I thought it was. With tight budgets I didn’t know how we were going to do it,” she says.

Since hanging the bird feeders, staff and residents have been observing the number and kind of birds they see. The boys can bird watch while they are outside or observe from the large picture window in the front of the house. The residents take an active responsibility of making sure the feeders are filled as needed.

Angela shares that they often see cardinals, blue birds and finches. She will be checking out some library books so that the residents can look up what kind of birds are stopping by.

The Mt. Gilead staff and residents are grateful for the donations that are making the project possible. If you would like to make a donation to the Mt. Gilead bird feeder project, please visit here and designate “Mt. Gilead Bird Feeder Project.” If you would like to donate bird feeders or bird seed, please email, [email protected].

Mt. Gilead residents make sure the bird feeders are attended to when they need more bird seed attracting a wide variety of birds such as blue birds, finches and cardinals.