$25K raised for baby box
A drop-off box for unwanted newborns is being installed in the new Gluckstadt Police Department and Court Services building currently under construction on Gluckstadt Way.
The city approved the addition of the Safe Haven Baby Box to the $8 million facility.
The box will allow parents in desperate situations to safely and legally abandon a child under a certain age to emergency professionals and health care providers.
“If this saves one child’s life it will all be worth it,” said Mayor Walter Morrison.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are temperature-controlled and will alert authorities when a child is dropped off so the child can receive immediate attention and medical care.
Morrison said these are situations of “desperation” that can “ruin lives” and are “so destructive.”
“In this case, the baby’s life will be safe and preserved,” Morrison said.
The item was approved at the Nov. 14 city board meeting by a unanimous vote.
“I am so pleased the board approved this,” Morrison said calling the box “important” and a “big deal.”
Architects are working on adding the box to the building. The box will open to the outside for drop off and to the inside of the building for first responders to receive the child.
The cost of the box was raised by private donations. On Dec. 13, the city announced on Facebook they had raised the $25,000.
“Thank you to all who contributed to this important cause,” officials said.
The statement also noted any further donations will go toward “advertising and promotion” of the Safe Haven Baby Box.
This will be the second such box in the state. The first was installed on the Coast at a Long Beach fire station this summer.
Safe Haven is a nonprofit founded about eight years ago that aims to “prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, offering a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis and offering the Safe Haven Baby Boxes as a last resort option” for parents who want to maintain anonymity. According to their website, they have boxes in 14 states including Mississippi.
To date, according to the Safe Haven website, their hotline has received over 9,000 calls across every state. Safe Haven Baby Boxes officials say they have referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers and have helped facilitate over 140 legal Safe Haven surrenders including more than 30 through the boxes.
The box takes advantage of legislation primarily authored by state Rep. Jill Ford, a Republican from Madison, and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves in April known as House Bill 1318.
The legislation amends the “Baby Drop-off Law” that allows a child’s caretaker to surrender their child to emergency service providers or at a “baby safety device that is sponsored by an emergency medical services provider” and meets certain requirements.
Specifically, the law extended the age of the child to 45 days.
“One of the biggest honors of my life is to have been able to fight for such an important piece of legislation helping give parents an option to surrender their newborn with no questions asked,” Ford said. “The mayor and board of Gluckstadt are to be commended for allowing one of the first safe haven baby boxes to be installed in their new municipal police station”