Most Sacred Heart Parish assisted with funds, support for the project
Eureka Fire Protection District became one of the newest Safe Haven Baby Box locations in Missouri with a blessing held March 19.
Located on an external wall of Engine House 2, 1815 West Fifth St. in Eureka, the box allows parents in crisis to surrender their infant safely, legally and anonymously. The box is available 24 hours, seven days a week and is climate-controlled with a bassinet inside. Emergency responders are immediately notified when a baby is placed inside it.
It is one of six boxes in Missouri and 329 boxes at fire stations and hospitals in the United States since Monica Kelsey founded the Indiana-based nonprofit organization in 2016. (Several more boxes are expected to open soon.)
“Isn’t it amazing, though, that we’re standing here at a fire house blessing a box that is going in the wall, so that we do not have to stand at a cemetery blessing a box that is going in the ground,” said Kelsey, who learned as an adult she had been abandoned as an infant. “I am now their voice, and I will forever walk with these moms as they choose something safe for their child and forever walk with these kids and show them their worth.”
The first Safe Haven Baby Box in Missouri debuted in August 2023 at the Mehlville Fire Protection District House 2 in south St. Louis County. Six months later, a baby girl was safely surrendered in the box and eventually was adopted.
Retired Eureka Fire Chief Greg Brown already had been talking to members of Tri-County Birthright about the possibility of installing a box at one of its fire houses. The day after the surrender at the baby box in Mehlville, he called Mehlville Fire Chief Brian Hendricks and got the ball rolling.
“I spent 43 years in the fire service, and I’ve been on a lot of really horrific calls,” Brown said, adding that nothing sticks out to him more than the rescue of several infants over the years. “There’s nothing more special than on that first birthday, second birthday, when (the parents) come by the fire house and say thank you.”
Installation took about eight months to complete and cost about $20,000, which was paid for through donations, including a gift from Knights of Columbus Council #3511 at Most Sacred Heart in Eureka. The parish’s pro-life committee and other individuals also supported the project.
Knights of Columbus Grand Knight Kevin Haller said it was a “no-brainer” to help with the project. Chief Brown presented the effort at one of the Knights’ meetings, Haller said, “and everybody was like, 100 percent, what do you need?”
Chief Scott Barthelmass, who succeeded Brown in December 2024 and oversaw completion of the project, said that first responders received training on how to respond once a baby is placed in the box. A multi-tiered silent alarm system notifies them that there is a baby inside the box. Emergency personnel secure the infant and transport the baby to the hospital for a medical evaluation.
“It takes a whole village to keep a village safe,” Barthelmass said. “If a mom is in crisis, this is one more resource for her.”
The baby box is one more node, or opportunity to serve another human being, said Rachel Anderson, board member with Tri-County Birthright, who worked with Eureka Fire Protection District on the project.
“You have the node of the pregnancy test — what you say after they have a pregnancy test really matters,” she said. “But there are moms who reach that point of delivery and they’re in crisis. And sometimes when a mom has a crisis, there’s nothing really to say. It’s just a way of being. If there is a woman who’s in crisis … then this box is that safe, anonymous way that a baby can be given to a family who will love them and care for them.”
The exterior of the baby box includes a crisis hotline number to answer questions and provide guidance on how to safely and legally surrender the infant. A tote bag located inside of the box includes printed resources, including information on professional counseling services, which may be taken.
The Missouri House recently passed legislation to help the state establish additional Safe Haven Baby Boxes at Missouri hospitals and fire stations. Current Missouri law allows parents to surrender their newborns up to 45 days of age at a designated drop-off box without being prosecuted, as as long as it is done according to law and safely. HB 121, sponsored by Rep. Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis County, would change the baby’s age limit to 90 days and create a state fund to match up to $10,000 per installation of a drop-off box. The Missouri Catholic Conference testified in favor of the measure, which now heads to the Senate for debate.
Safe Place for Newborns Law
Missouri’s Safe Place for Newborns Law allows a parent to relinquish their baby without criminal consequences if they feel they are unable to care for him/her, as long as the baby is younger than 45 days old and it’s done safely and according to law. (Proposed legislation seeks to expand the baby’s age limit to 90 days.)
Safe Haven laws generally are based on the idea of avoiding infant abandonment and parental prosecution. All 50 states have laws, but may differ in criteria.
Relinquishing an infant under traditional Safe Haven legislation typically involves handing the infant directly to another individual and stating that you wish to relinquish the baby under the Safe Haven law.
By contrast, Safe Haven Baby Boxes do not involve human contact. Several states, including Missouri, guarantee complete anonymity of the individual relinquishing an infant; however, most states require that infants be relinquished unharmed to maintain anonymity.
To learn more about Missouri’s law, visit stlreview.com/3qnHo3e.
