WOODBURN — It's a mission with a whole lot of heart behind it.
In the rural community of Woodburn, just outside of Fort Wayne, a small production plant team is hard at work.
A worker cuts plastic, another assembles big black boxes and an electrician installs the sensors. They add the hardware. Everything is quality controlled. Each box that leaves this facility has to be perfect, with no room for error.
That's because these boxes are going to save the lives of babies.
"A lot of people don't realize how hard we are fighting behind the scenes," said Monica Kelsey, Safe Haven Baby Box Founder. "The mission of SHBB is to put an end to infant abandonment by raising awareness of Safe Haven laws and walk alongside the mother in crisis. We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that every baby has a place and every mom has a place to go."
Here in Indiana, a woman may safely surrender her newborn infant up to 30 days. Each state has different laws on the books regarding this issue, and new laws are being passed each year.
SHBB has baby boxes installed in 15 states and counting, with the majority here in Indiana.
Monica Kelsey walks us through the SHBB facility in of Woodburn and leads us to a wall full of photos.
"So this is actually the first baby who was ever surrendered in a baby box, she is five now," Monica Kelsey said. "And this is baby Nola, she was surrendered in Colombia City, Indiana."
For Monica Kelsey, it's personal. She created this organization after learning she herself was abandoned as an infant.
"It's kind of a wall that I started," said Monica Kelsey. "I just started putting pictures up of these kids and that have been saved by SHBB and it just keeps growing and growing."
It serves as a reminder for why she and her team work so hard.
"This is why we fight," Monica Kelsey said. "Everytime you look at these kids, ya know, with their adoptive families, this is why we fight."
In the back production area of the headquarters, it is a family affair.
JJ Steinmetz is the manager for production and he is also Monica's son.
"I don't know if there's even a word to explain the amount of passion that woman has for what we do," said Steinmetz. "When her mind is set on something, she is going for it."
Steinmetz has been working here for about six years and says the whole team has a lot of passion for the work they do.
"Everybody here is just so passionate about these boxes, that ain't nothing getting in our way when it comes to them," said Steinmetz. "We are putting our hearts and our souls into these boxes everyday."
Steinmetz says the boxes take longer to manufacture than most people realize, with each box taking about 25 man hours to assemble and ensure it is in perfect working order before it gets shipped out.
Each box starts as a 4x8 sheet of plastic, cut to their specifications. Another worker gets the burrs off and the fabrication process starts. The box gets assembled, with a shell and prep work. They each get quality controlled and electrical and hardware gets added at this location.
He says each box is more than just a product coming out of a production facility, these boxes continue to save lives.
"Not many people can go to work and know they are making an impact like we are," said Steinmetz.
Joining Steinmetz on the production floor, Joe Kelsey, Monica's husband.
"From beginning to end to where the baby box gets shipped out the the location, this is where it all happens right here," said Joe Kelsey. "From an order, when a location orders a baby box, from that point on, it's approximately eight weeks to deliver."
The cost for a SHBB is about $15,000 but that doesn't just include the physical box itself. It also includes a lifetime of support, training and also the box delivery. The team wants the recipients of these boxes to know they have access to support whenever they may need it. Just over 40 babies have been saved using these boxes so far.
Joe Kelsey says in the shop, they are currently working on several boxes to ship out to various states across the country where they have orders placed with Safe Haven laws.
"Our mission is to stop infant abandonment across the country," said Joe Kelsey.
The SHBB hotline is available around the clock to mothers in crisis, and just this past month, Monica Kelsey tells us they took 160 calls.
You can call or text 1-866-99-BABY-1 anytime of day for access to support.
According to their website, to date, the hotline has received over 9,000 calls from every state in the United States.
The organization has referred more than 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in nine adoption referrals, and have had over 140 legal Safe Haven surrenders.
Each time a call comes in that a baby has been surrendered safely, Steinmetz says he gets butterflies in his stomach every time knowing that infant is safe.
"Butterflies go everywhere," said Steinmetz. "It's almost like a first love feeling, ya know what I mean."
For more information on laws in various states and more on the SHBB organization, visit https://www.shbb.org/
