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Beech Grove to bless new Safe Haven Baby Box

Blessing of Indiana’s 104th Baby Box in Beech Grove

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Beech Grove leaders will hold a special ceremony on Friday to mark the installation of Indiana’s 104th Safe Haven Baby Box.

Members of the community are invited to a noon open house at the Beech Grove EMS Station, 1202 Albany St., with a ceremony and baby box blessing to follow at 1 p.m.

Beech Grove Mayor Dennis Buckley and a representative from Safe Haven Baby Boxes will make remarks. Father Bob Robeson of Holy Name Catholic Church will perform the blessing.

“Beech Grove is an ideal location for a Safe Haven Baby Box, and we are honored to offer this important resource to our citizens and the surrounding community,” Mayor Dennis Buckle said in a release. “I’m grateful to our team here at the city for their hard work in bringing the baby box to Beech Grove.”

A Safe Haven Baby Box is a safety device made possible by Indiana’s Safe Haven Law. The law allows a person in crisis to surrender their infant anonymously without fear of arrest or prosecution.

A baby box is installed in an exterior wall of a designated fire station or hospital. It has an exterior door that automatically locks when an infant is placed inside and an interior door that allows medical staff to take the newborn out.

Adoption occurs within 30 to 45 days by families who are signed up for foster care with the intention to adopt.

Three infants have been surrendered at Indiana baby boxes this year, including two newborns surrendered in a two-day span in March.

Anyone needing help finding a baby box location or who wants to speak to a licensed counselor can call the National Safe Haven crisis hotline at 1-866-99BABY1.

Click here to see current baby box locations and find the nearest Safe Haven Baby Box.