By Juliana Packard

The Safe Haven Baby Box is a safe way to surrender a baby if a person is unable to care for a newborn. There are seven safe baby boxes in Ohio, including Troy and Lima. 

Safe Haven’s mission statement  is “prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, offering a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis, and offering the Safe Haven Baby Boxes a last resort option for women who want to maintain complete anonymity.” Monica Kelsey is the founder of the baby boxes. She created Safe Haven Baby Box due to being abandoned at birth. 

There are seven states which have the Safe Haven Baby Box with 107 boxes across the U.S. “Safe Haven Baby Boxes has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in 7 adoption referrals, and have had over 100 legal Safe Haven surrenders. Thirteen babies have been surrendered in boxes in Indiana in the past 18 months. Three babies were surrendered to firefighters at Safe Haven Baby Box locations,” said Safe Haven.