Adoption expenses lessened for families, thanks to a new Iowa business

After going through an adoption of their own, one Iowa family has started a resale store in order to help others afford the expenses that come with adoption.

In an interview with WHBF, Brittany Berrie shared that her family got the inspiration to start their store, The Adopted Closet, after a family member helped pay for the adoption of her daughter, Gracie.

“My cousin was asking about her and we got to talking and the adoption had not been finalized, and she said, ‘when you get home go hire an attorney; I’m paying for everything’,” Berrie said. “I had the idea of paying for someone else’s adoption because I know what that blessing feels like.”

“I struggled with how to thank my cousin for what she did,” Berrie told the DeWitt Observer. “I was talking to my mom during a garage sale at her house, and I thought, ‘Let’s help someone else pay for (an adoption).’ So, we started buying garage-sale clothes. We had an overwhelming amount of people donate to us. It started out as an end-of-the-summer sale but then I thought, this could be a store.”

READ: DNA test reunites mother with son she placed for adoption 33 years ago

Berrie took the idea and ran with it, converting her home’s four-car garage into a storefront. “I know what that feels like to hear the words of ‘it’s going to be taken care of’ and so the fact that I can do that for somebody else, it’s the purpose of everything; it’s the purpose of the whole store,” she said.

Berrie said she buys some of the stock herself, but that the community has also stepped up in a big way to help supply the store with preowned clothing. “I came out one day and the whole front of my house was just full of clothing and almost every day at least five times a week we have at least a bag or box of clothing,” she said.

Berrie explained that proceeds from the store will be used to help families pay for legal fees associated with adoption, which can cost around $12,000 or more. The Adopted Closet is almost ready to help its very first family. “Our first family that we’re going to help, their adoption is finalized next month, and they’re going to send us the balance,” she explained.

“We’re just doing it one adoption at a time; we’re kind of just leaving it in God’s hands. People are excited about it. A lot of people from small towns around this area come here and say, ‘I wish we had a store like this in our town,'” Berrie told the DeWitt Observer. “I just really like clothing. I love a good find. Guys get excited about a touchdown, I get excited about garage sales. And everybody has an adoption story… I love it. Everybody seems to know somebody who’s adopted. A lot of kids need to be shown what unconditional love is.”

The store is located at 814 10th Street in DeWitt, Iowa.

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