Coolspring Township in La Porte County is home to the US second Baby Box. Thanks to this box, thousands of babies have been saved in third world countries. Now mothers in the US have the ability to surrender their unwanted infants in a safe place while maintaining complete anonymity.
The Baby Box was created by Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, a nonprofit organization that is on a mission to educate people on the Safe Haven Law and to saves the lives of unwanted infants from abandonment. She got the idea from a church in South Africa where she saw a box for abandoned infants. Knowing that there was a need to be met back home in the US, Kelsey thought that it would only be beneficial to make this idea a reality.
Kelsey is a firefighter in Fort Wayne, Indiana where the nation’s first Baby Box has been installed. She was a surrendered child herself. Her biological mother abandoned her to a hospital when Kelsey was just an infant.
Baby Boxes are extensions of the nation’s Safe Haven Law, which enables a person to give up his or her infant anonymously without fear of being arrested or persecuted. There will be more Baby Boxes installed in Indiana with Indianapolis being another recipient.
Click here to read more about the Safe Haven Law.
The Baby Box can be found at Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department in Michigan City. It is equipped with a soft blanket, a tiny mattress, and it’s temperature controlled so that the baby won’t be affected by heat or cold.
Once a child is placed into the Baby Box and the door is shut, an alert is immediately sent to first responders and the Baby Box locks permanently until first responders arrive to retrieve the child. A button is also installed on the outside of the box for people to press that will alert first responders. On the door of the Baby Box is a phone number for mothers to call, 1-866-99Baby1, where they will be immediately connected to counselors who can offer them assistance.
In a recent test run for the Baby Box, first responders arrived in under three minutes after they were alerted by the apparatus’ alarm.
To find out more about the Safe Haven Baby Boxes click here!