Safe Haven Baby Box’s mission is to prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, offering a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis and offering a last resort option for women.
Founder, Monica Kelsey, started Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc. after learning she was abandoned as an infant and after seeing a “baby box” in operation at a church, in Cape Town, South Africa. She has made it her personal mission to educate others on the Safe Haven Law and to do whatever it takes to save the lives of innocent babies from being abandoned in dangerous locations. The Safe Haven Baby Box takes the face-to-face interaction out of the surrender and protects the mother from being seen.
The Safe Haven Baby Box organization’s primary goal is to raise awareness of the Safe Haven Law. Women in crisis can call the 24-hour hotline and can receive counseling and assistance. To date, the hotline has received over 8,000 calls from every state in the United States. The Safe Haven Baby Box organization has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in 7 adoption referrals, and has had 100 legal Safe Haven surrenders. Twelve babies have been surrendered in the Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Three babies were surrendered to firefighters at Safe Haven Baby Box locations.
The City of Plymouth is the home of the newest Safe Haven Baby Box. The Baby Box is located on the southwest corner of the Plymouth Fire Station. This location will ensure anonymity to the mom as she is performing the most unselfish, difficult, and caring act of her life…choosing to give her baby the opportunity for a better life.
The Indiana Safe Haven Law enables a person to give up an unwanted infant anonymously without fear of arrest or prosecution. As long as there are no signs of intentional abuse on the baby, no information is required of the person leaving the baby. Any knowledge of the date of birth, race, parent medical history, child’s health or anything that would be useful to the child’s caregiver would be greatly appreciated. Once the baby is examined and given medical treatment (if needed), the Indiana Department of Child Services will take the baby into custody through Child Protective Services where it will be placed with a caregiver.
There will be a blessing and dedication of the City of Plymouth Safe Haven Baby Box on Wednesday, November 10th at 1:00 pm at the Plymouth Fire Department. This project was successfully funded by the generous donations from members of the community and we would like to celebrate them.
