A co-owner of the Kingston adult group home Chiz’s Heart Street visited Thursday with housing activists who have been taking shifts guarding the home’s tenants against removal by realtors, and the two sides found some common ground regarding the crisis.

The owners of Stockade Group, LLC have been trying to finalize the sale of the home to a still-unknown buyer since March, but the deal will not be final until all tenants are out of the building, co-owner Richard Caggiano said Thursday.

Caggiano told activists from the Ulster County Coalition For Housing Justice that he truly feels for the 10-plus residents, some of whom live with schizophrenia, who have not yet been placed in new homes.

“I’ve never done this before,” Caggiano said of the situation.

“It’s new for everybody,” organizer Rashida Tyler replied.

"I certainly didn’t know how to do it,” Caggiano added. “I’m trying to do the right thing for everybody.”

Caggiano pleaded with activists for some sympathy for him and his two partners, who continue to lose money as county social workers scramble to get the residents placed in homes.

Tyler then introduced Caggiano to County Executive Pat Ryan over the phone, hoping it might eventually lead to a solution.

Tyler also confronted Caggiano about his realtor’s verbal and written notices telling tenants to vacate by Thursday, July 15.

County Sheriff Juan Figueroa later assured the tenants that under the state’s eviction moratorium, they have until Sept. 1.

“I don’t know about that,” Caggiano said of the notices that the building would be shut and secured by Friday. “All I can tell you is, we want the best for the people. We want them to be housed in a place that works for them. Not a hotel room, [but] a place they can call home, like they did here.”

A county social worker was back at the property Thursday. Deputies were on scene, too, chatting with residents about housing laws.

Tyler was pleased and said she appreciated Caggiano, a Brooklyn native, facing the activists and tenants.

Caggiano teared up as he was leaving, repeating that he wants the county to place the tenants in real homes.

Another challenge facing owners and county social workers is that the remaining tenants are all requesting that their new homes be in Kingston, a city with a housing crisis that continues to catch national attention.

Two tenants said Thursday they rejected offers to be relocated elsewhere in the county, and are choosing to remain at the group home.

About 50 residents have been relocated, in some cases, out of state, since March, realtor Nan Potter said Wednesday.