The little girl bounded up to the podium from her mother’s side as Franklin’s first and the county’s second Safe Haven Baby Box was born.
Three years ago, a box just like it saved her life. Grace Harger was the first infant to be saved by a Safe Haven Baby Box, a safe and secure way for parents to surrender babies they feel they cannot care for.
The newest Safe Haven Baby Box opened Wednesday at Franklin Fire Station No. 22, 1800 Thornburg Lane, marking the 60th baby box in Indiana.
A true safe haven
Since the first baby box was installed in 2016, 11 babies have been rescued and placed with an adoptive family, said Monica Kelsey, Safe Haven founder. The most recent rescue was May 2, when a baby was surrendered at the Clarksville Fire Department, she said.
The first infant to be surrendered in a Safe Haven box now lives in Franklin with her adoptive family, less than two miles from the newest box. Harger was surrendered in November 2017 at the Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department in Laporte County.
Kelsey introduced Harger and her family to the crowd gathered at the baby box ribbon cutting on Wednesday. This local box, she said, will save a life.
“We don’t know what her mother’s circumstances are but her life has value and purpose. This box is what is going to bring (that purpose) to the baby,” Kelsey said. “This box will be used. It is a matter of when, not if.”
Grace’s mother, Misty Harger, and her husband loved being foster parents, but eventually sought to adopt a newborn. They adopted Grace and her brother, Chance.
They now have a loving home and chance at life. They brought her home in December 2017, about a month after she was surrendered, and finalized her adoption several months later.
The Hargers don’t know anything about Grace’s family history or why she was surrendered, but that’s OK, she said.
“We were extremely honored (to take her home). We didn’t know anything about her mother and we didn’t ask,” Misty Harger said. “We just said, ‘We will take her.’ It is not the easiest road but it is a huge blessing.”
Misty Harger was overjoyed to see a box open in her hometown, and Grace was curious to check out a device just like the one that saved her life.
“It feels really good. I’m proud of our community for gathering up the money to make this happen,” Misty Harger said.
Rallying for local box
Katie Sparks, of KIC-IT and Beats for Bristol, initiated the effort to bring a box to Franklin. She had received a grant for partial funding from the Johnson County Community Foundation.
Sparks had chosen Franklin Fire Station No. 22 as the preferred location of the box after looking at several sites throughout the city. The Franklin Fire Department headquarters was the perfect location because it is close to Interstate 65, and the box was placed in an area where the parent is concealed from public view, she said.
“I’m excited to see this finally come together. The location of this box is huge because it is right by the interstate and really close to Shelby and Bartholomew County as well,” Sparks said.
Last year, students from Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett’s Youth Leadership Council carried out final fundraising for the project, but were surprised by a $15,000 donation from the Franklin Township Trustee’s Office in December.
“When you do things together, good things happen,” Mayor Steve Barnett said. “There are a lot of parts to this, but it wouldn’t have moved without the funding, so I want to thank (Franklin Township Trustee) Lydia Wales and her board of trustees for fully funding this project.”
Instead of raising funds, the council coordinated installation of the box and are planning a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the box among youth in the community, said Jenna Newton, the council’s president.
“This is just the beginning for the baby box. We are far from done. Moving forward next year and this summer, we have a lot of ideas of how we want to get out to the community,” Newton said.
When the Franklin box became fully funded by the trustee’s office, Sparks shifted gears to instead raise funds for a baby box she hopes to open in Edinburgh.
Franklin’s baby box is the second to open in Johnson County. The first box opened early last year at White River Township Fire Station No. 53, 366 N. Morgantown Road.
How the process works
Parents may surrender a child at any baby box anonymously and without fear of prosecution as long as the baby is under 1 month old. A parent may not regain custody once they surrender the child, according to state law.
To use the box, parents pull a lever on the outside, which opens the box. They then put the infant in the bassinet inside the box and close the lid.
The box has a light source and is temperature controlled, so an infant is safe and comfortable in any weather condition until firefighters are able to rescue it, Franklin Fire Chief Matt Culp said.
Parents may also call the Safe Haven hotline at 866-99BABY1, but they are not required to do so under the law.
When the parent closes the lid on the box, they have about 60 seconds to leave the area before an alarm goes off alerting local authorities that a child has been surrendered. The Franklin box has an alarm that alerts firefighters on duty at Station 22, local dispatch and Culp through his city cell phone, he said.
Firefighters open the backside of the box from the station’s garage, take the child out of the box and transport it to Johnson Memorial Hospital for an evaluation, Culp said.
At that time, firefighters also call the Indiana Department of Child Services to place the child with a caregiver. Once the lid of the box is closed, the baby is considered abandoned, he said.
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Where to find a Safe Haven Baby Box if you need help on the southside.
Franklin Fire Station No. 22, 1800 Thornburg Lane, Franklin.
White River Fire Station No. 53, 366 N. Morgantown Road, Greenwood.
Mooresville Fire Station No. 1, 415 E. State Road 144, Mooresville.
Shelbyville City Fire Station No. 1, 40 W. Broadway Street, Shelbyville.
Decatur Township Fire Department, 3750 Foltz Street, Indianapolis.
Martinsville Fire Department, 160 W. Morgan Street, Martinsville.
Source: Safe Haven Baby Boxes
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