Officials with the city of Richmond and local pregnancy care centers gathered Tuesday afternoon to open a Safe Haven Baby Box at the city’s fire department.
Baby boxes allow parents and couples unable to take care of their newborn to anonymously hand the child over without facing any judgment or legal punishment. The baby box is the first in Madison County.
Monica Kelsey is the founder of Safe Haven Baby Box and spoke at the proceedings.
“If the alternative is a dumpster, then it's a good thing,” Kelsey said. “And so sometimes we look at a thing like this and think, really, what is that going to change? And I'll tell you: 202 infants have come through our program, and it changed their lives and their parents, and this is all within the last eight years.”
Richmond Mayor Robert Blythe says it’s ideal for those who either don’t want to or aren’t able to drive to Lexington or other urban areas for the same service.
“That might even be another factor in the back of their minds: ‘Well I know that I’m not taking the baby for example to another community, but my own community, out of its concern, is offering this opportunity to me,’”Blythe said.
Another baby box was installed in Pikeville last month, making the service available for communities in southeast Kentucky.
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