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Fire stations across the Kansas City metro are a safe place for parents to drop off their babies. Now, Station 14 of the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department has a Safe Haven Baby Box, a place where parents can surrender their newborn anonymously.
The box is the first Safe Haven Baby Box in the metro, located at KCFD's Station 14 in the Northland. It is the 483rd in the country.
On Wednesday, community members attended a blessing ceremony for the new option for parents in crisis.
"Isn't it a good day when we're blessing a box going in the wall so that we don't have to bless a box going in the ground tomorrow?" said Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
The process is simple for parents needing to surrender their child.
"When a parent walks up to one of our Safe Haven Baby Boxes, like the one here in Kansas City, all they have to do is walk up and open the door," Kelsey said.
Once the door opens, firefighters are alerted right away.
"A signal gets sent to our alarm panel here and says that the baby box door is open, that somebody has opened the door and that they're putting a baby in the box," said Kelsey Whetro, battalion chief with KCFD.
Parents place the baby in the box and then firefighters are there to help, and the fire station is stocked and ready for a newborn's arrival.
"We have blankets, we have a warming mattress, we have diapers and bottles, we have everything ready to go," Whetro said.
Nearly 90 babies have been surrendered in these boxes since 2017 all over the country, according to the organization.
"That means that there's still a need," Whetro said.
The baby box provides another option for someone who may not feel comfortable with a face-to-face surrender.
"A member that might be in crisis, an opportunity to safely surrender their newborn to us knowing that we are a safe space, but they don't have to do the face-to-face contact and look somebody in the eye," Whetro said.
Missouri's Safe Place for Newborns Act allows a parent to voluntarily surrender their newborn, but there are some conditions. For a mother to remain within the law, the baby has to be 90 days old or younger and unharmed, according to Kelsey.
The city used money from a special fund. Through the Public Improvements Advisory Committee, residents can recommend projects and have a say in how the money is spent. The box costs $30,000.
"It doesn't matter the dollar amount. If this just saves one life, it was worth it," said KCMO City Councilmember Nathan Willett.
For Patti VanMele, who lives in the metro, the cause is personal.
"It's dear to my heart that this would be a place that women could actually take their babies if they couldn't keep (them)," VanMele said.
45 years ago, VanMele had to make a difficult decision.
"I had a baby. At the time, my mom would not let me come home with the baby, so I gave her away for adoption," VanMele said.
She found a good place for her daughter to go, and she said the decision led to a better future.
"I knew my daughter would have a good future with the people that took her," VanMele said. "I am proud to the person that she's turned out to be."
Kelsey founded the organization after a personal experience.
"Back in 1972, there was no safe haven law and a young 17-year-old girl was brutally attacked and raped and left along the side of the road," Kelsey said. "She found out she was pregnant, and she was hidden for the remainder of the pregnancy. She gave birth in April of 1973 and abandoned her child two hours after that child was born. And that child was me."
Now, she wants to be a voice for those moms and babies.
"I am now their voice, and I will forever walk with these moms as they choose something safe for their child," Kelsey said. "On the other side of the box, there is hope there."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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