ELWOOD — The Elwood Fire Department has joined the long list of departments in the state and country to have a Safe Haven Baby Box at their station.
On Tuesday, the baby box was blessed at its new home at 1505 South B Street in Elwood.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes has had seven surrenders via Baby Box so far this year. The Elwood location marks the 113th Baby Box in the nation.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes was founded by Monica Kelsey, who was abandoned as an infant.
“The Elwood Fire Department has protected the City of Elwood and its residents for over 125 years,” Elwood Fire Chief Mark Sullivan said. “We are always striving to better ourselves for the protection of our citizens through training and modernization of equipment. The Safe Haven Baby box is another great tool in our toolbox to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens.”
The project was made possible due to the generosity of an anonymous donor that contributed to the Outreach Missions Witness Committee at the Elwood First United Methodist Church. This committee along with Pastor Roberta Cook and Alice Humel-Denton truly advocated for this asset to be placed in the community.
What is a Safe Haven Baby Box?
Baby boxes are safe incubators that have alarm systems, so 911 is notified as soon as a baby is placed inside. The baby boxes also have heating and cooling features.
READ | Meet Grace: One of Indiana's Safe Haven babies
Once the infant is collected by first responders, they're taken to the nearest medical facility to be evaluated.
Infants surrendered under Indiana's Safe Haven Law are placed in the custody of the state's Department of Child Services after they are released from the hospital. The process then begins to find an adoptive family within 30-45 days.
Safe Haven Hotline
The boxes make the news, but the Safe Haven Hotline is where most of these journeys begin.
SHBB staffs a 24-hour Safe Haven hotline (1-866-99BABY1), so parents can talk to trained professionals and get more information about their options for surrendering or how to get assistance to help them be able to care for their child.
The SHBB hotline is staffed by licensed counselors.
The Safe Haven Law allows mothers to safely surrender their infants, anonymously, up to 30 days old.
-
New $205.8M hotel approved for Indianapolis International Airport
The Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) Board has approved plans for a brand-new hotel to connect directly to Indianapolis International Airport (IND).
Introducing Indianapolis Zoo’s Newest Member: A Baby Boy Orangutan
The Indianapolis Zoo has exciting news to share: Sirih, the orangutan, has given birth to a healthy male baby!
No. 1 Notre Dame clamps down on defense, a good sign as March is getting closer
It's been a good week for the Notre Dame women's basketball team: Return to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday, then turn in perhaps its best defensive game of the season on Thursday.
Pacers rally with 50-point 2nd quarter to beat Grizzlies 127-113
Tyrese Haliburton scored 22 points and Myles Turner had 17 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high seven blocks to help the Indiana Pacers pull away from the Memphis Grizzlies 127-113 on Thursday night.
