Safe Haven Baby Box now available in Unicoi County
EWRIN, Tenn. (WJHL) — Mothers who want to safely and anonymously surrender their infant can now do so in Unicoi County.
A Safe Haven Baby Box blessing was held Tuesday where members of the community came together to dedicate the box and offered prayers it will be used to save babies.
Tennessee offering free seeds to help boost Monarch butterfly population
There are 240 Baby Boxes across the country, and this is the fourth Baby Box available in Tennessee; however, it’s the first one in Northeast Tennessee.
The process from idea to installation took about a year Mariah Betz, the Assistant Coordinator for Safe Haven Baby Boxes, told News Channel 11. She said the organization promises, “No Shame, No Blame and No Names” as its motto.
Although each state has a Safe Haven law that allows mothers to surrender their infants at any time to a hospital, those behind the Baby Box claim that face-to-face interaction and lack of anonymity may be keeping mothers from doing it. Each year, dozens of infants are illegally abandoned, many of which are left to die, Betz said.
“They don’t want to be seen or tried to be talked out of it,” Betz said. “They don’t want to be shamed, and this offers that to them. No one will see them, and they can be 100% anonymous.”
Each box is an investment of about $15,000, which is typically funded by community members. That is the case in Unicoi County.
Lois Shults-Davis is one of the donors and said that as an attorney working in the courts, she knows the hardships some in East Tennessee face. She hopes the Baby Box will save infant lives.
“We don’t know how many little boxes are buried in the woods somewhere,” Shults-Davis said. “With the proliferation of drugs in our area, we don’t know how many tragedies there have been. This is the time for Baby Boxes and to have that resource available for a mother that needs it and a baby that can be saved.”
The Baby Box is located on a wall outside the Unicoi County EMS Office at 630 Oneega Avenue in Erwin. Once a mother closes the door, it’s locked from the outside. Inside the box, the temperature is regulated, and the baby is monitored and kept safe while a signal is sent to first responders.
“Once that signal is received, it’s an automatic phone call to the 911 center here. Then the dispatch comes out to police, fire and EMS,” said Keith Ellis, Executive Director of the Unicoi County EMS. He added his crew’s job is to evaluate the infant and transport it to the appropriate hospital.
Several community members helped install the Baby Box and donated funds. There was also a donation of hats and blankets from the Fishery Stitches Quilting Guild.
To date, more than 50 babies have been safely surrendered in a Baby Box, and 150 other mothers have been helped by the Safe Haven resources.
The next step is getting the word out about the Baby Box with advertising such as billboards and flyers, and organizers are still accepting donations. To learn more or receive services from the Safe Haven Baby Box, call 1-866-99BABY1.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
