Caseyville Woman's Search for Missing Mother Inspires Her to Give Supplies to Unhoused Community Every Christmas

CASEYVILLE - Robin Plantz has turned a difficult situation into a chance to help others.

On Christmas Eve, Plantz will distribute 150 stockings and backpacks to unhoused community members across the Riverbend region. Named Cloudia’s Christmas after Plantz’s mother, the tenth annual distribution event honors Cloudia, who Plantz last saw on Christmas night in 1994. Cloudia is homeless and considered missing.

“Since Christmas was the last time I saw my mom, I pay tribute to her through that,” Plantz said. “I just feel like everybody deserves something new on Christmas. Wherever my mom is, I think there’s somebody helping her.”

Plantz and a few volunteers have already packed the stockings and backpacks, but you can help by donating for next year. The stockings include a McDonald’s gift card and candy, while the backpack has a few essentials like toothbrushes, handwarmers, and nail clippers.

Plantz spoke to an unhoused woman a few years ago who said the one thing she wanted was a mirror so she could see herself when she brushed her teeth in the morning. Every backpack contains a mirror. It’s important to Plantz to include these “little things that you don’t think of.”

While most unhoused children are in shelters, Plantz also makes sure to have a few toys in case they come across any kids during their distribution on Christmas Eve. Her Amazon wishlist includes these items, so people can help her give back.

“I’m not a 501(c)(3). I’m not a nonprofit. I’m just a regular person,” Plantz said.

Her individual efforts come from a deeply personal place. Plantz explained that Cloudia struggled with mental health issues throughout Plantz’s childhood, coming in and out of her life for months or years at a time. Cloudia walked away from her home in Maryville, and Plantz hasn’t seen her since 1994.

Three years later, Cloudia resurfaced at a shelter in San Diego and wrote down Plantz’s name as her emergency contact. Plantz didn’t learn of this until several years later, when she went missing from the shelter.

Twenty years after Plantz last saw Cloudia, her photo was in the L.A. Times from a homeless count in Santa Monica. Plantz found the photo two years later.

At one point, Plantz went to California to look for her mother herself. She walked 54 blocks of Skid Row, where many unhoused community members live. She noted that this was “a very big eye-opening experience” as she learned more about homelessness and talked with several individuals who were experiencing it.

“Whenever I was out in California, I was very angry with God. I’m thinking, ‘How can You send me all this way with a picture 20 years later, and I can’t find her?’” Plantz remembered. “I believe that there’s a reason for everything, and I just didn’t understand what the reasoning was behind this. I came home, and California changed me.”

Back in Caseyville, Plantz started the Missing and Homeless Facebook page. With over 100,000 followers, the page helps connect missing people to their loved ones by sharing information about them. They have located 150 individuals in the last ten years.

Plantz is still looking for her mother, but she is proud that she has turned a difficult experience into a way to help others. As she continues her search, she will also continue to help people through the Cloudia’s Christmas distribution event every Christmas Eve.

“To me, the mission is very important,” Plantz added. “My mom’s out there missing. I pray every year for a Christmas miracle. I’m always hoping that the right eyes see her. But every eyes, I look, and I see my mom. It’s just giving back and helping those on the street that don’t have the things that we have.”

For more information about Cloudia’s Christmas and how to help, visit the official Missing and Homeless Facebook page.

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