Foster Care Closet opens at Church of Christ
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Foster care and adoption isn't new, but the need may be more critical than ever for assistance for those children who find themselves in a different home from their birth parents.
In Webster City one of the assistance programs for foster families is the Foster Care Closet that is located at the Church of Christ in Webster City.
Robin and Tony Streigel serve the church as pastor and youth services coordinator, but also are foster parents to six children. When trying to provide the proper care for these children, they realized a huge issue. The children need more than just parenting.
"Some children arrive with just the clothes on their back," said Robin Streigel who started the Foster Care Closet, "Others might have a few items in a garbage bag."
To fully care for children from infants to 18, it gets expensive.
"Honestly when you get kids, you are dropping $1,000 to get clothing and backpacks and school supplies," said Steigel
The Foster Care Closet is located in an unused room at the church, located at 900 Des Moines St. Money and items can be donated specifically to use for the foster children in this community.
Streigel said there is another Foster Care Closet in either Hampton or Humboldt, but she saw a need to provide one here.
"There are at least six foster parenting families I know of," said Streigel of the need here in Webster City. The Foster Care closet provides clothing, and school items, baby bottles and sippy cups. They need items for all ages, from new-borns to 18 year olds.
The need for services and support for supplies for Foster Care children.
"This is all based on donations," said Streigel, "This is a service for Foster Care families and Adoptive families only."
Streigel encourages people to contact her directly if they know of someone in need.
"We have to have some limits," she said, "For example, there is a limit of three outfits per child."
With fall coming, they will have even greater need for shoes, boots, winter clothing and coats.
They have had a few toys, a few scooters, but those are not plentiful. Donations to offer items beyond the necessities are always welcome.
According to the Foster Care Capacity website for the state of Iowa, we had a total of 5,838 youth in Foster Care in 2025, with only 1951 licensed foster care homes. In 2024, Hamilton County had nearly 30 youth in foster care. The number of homes available for foster care has declined by nearly 500 homes in the past six years.
Streigel said appointments are necessary for acccess to the Foster Care Closet. Appointments can be made by contacting her at 515-450-7651, or by calling the church at 515-8332-2683. Only Foster Care and Adoptive parents are eligible to use this service.