TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The lives of new born babies could be saved due to a new effort in Terre Haute.
The Board of Public Works and Safety has approved the installation of a Safe Haven Baby Box at a Terre Haute fire station.
These boxes are designed for people to utilize the Safe Haven law. That’s where parents can surrender their child to any fire department, police department, or hospital safely.
The insulated boxes keep the baby safe. They also provide an option for parents instead of putting them in dumpsters or other dangerous places.
Local business owners, Chad and Natalie Overton, are funding the first box. Terre Haute Waste Water Treatment will install the box once it arrives at the fire station.
Safe Haven wants people to know that they are available to help even before the box is installed.
“If a mother in that city needs help today,” Monica Kelsey, the founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said. “If she needs help, she can contact us. We will give her the closest location that has a box or we will walk along side her as she surrenders that child to a person at that fire station or that hospital.”
Just this year, Safe Haven Baby Boxes have saved five babies in Indiana.
The first box in Terre Haute at Station Five, is located at 9th and Ohio.
