Safe Haven Baby Box is now in Pendleton County

Box dedicated to baby lost in March

  • The inside of the Safe Haven Box is similar to a hospital bassinet in looks, but it is equipped with a laser beam that sounds a silent alarm when it is broken, and the bed covers a scale confirming the presence of an infant, as well. The box is climate-controlled.
    The inside of the Safe Haven Box is similar to a hospital bassinet in looks, but it is equipped with a laser beam that sounds a silent alarm when it is broken, and the bed covers a scale confirming the presence of an infant, as well. The box is climate-controlled.
  • The Safe Haven Box opens like a door from the outside. As it opens, an alarm sounds to alert responders that someone has opened the box. Once a child is placed inside, a harmless laser beam, much like a garage door safety device, detects a baby is in the box. Within five minutes, the child can be dropped off and retrieved, all safely. The person dropping off the infant remains anonymous. The box is placed away from cameras in order to protect the person’s identity.
    The Safe Haven Box opens like a door from the outside. As it opens, an alarm sounds to alert responders that someone has opened the box. Once a child is placed inside, a harmless laser beam, much like a garage door safety device, detects a baby is in the box. Within five minutes, the child can be dropped off and retrieved, all safely. The person dropping off the infant remains anonymous. The box is placed away from cameras in order to protect the person’s identity.
  • The Safe Haven Box displays this phone number for parents in crisis, allowing the parents to speak with a counselor and/or to find a safe place to drop off the baby if they prefer not to use the box. The process is safe, and no parents will be prosecuted.
    The Safe Haven Box displays this phone number for parents in crisis, allowing the parents to speak with a counselor and/or to find a safe place to drop off the baby if they prefer not to use the box. The process is safe, and no parents will be prosecuted.
  • Bill Edwards of Main Street Baptist Church, Alexandria, offered the blessing for the box. The church funded the box in hopes of saving lives if the time came it was needed. He said they pray, but they also act.
    Bill Edwards of Main Street Baptist Church, Alexandria, offered the blessing for the box. The church funded the box in hopes of saving lives if the time came it was needed. He said they pray, but they also act.
  • Judge/Executive David Fields shared the timeline of events from March 1 to the day of the blessing, November 9. He spoke of the speed in which they had all they needed, from the idea to the completion, and how entities and people came together to make it happen.
    Judge/Executive David Fields shared the timeline of events from March 1 to the day of the blessing, November 9. He spoke of the speed in which they had all they needed, from the idea to the completion, and how entities and people came together to make it happen.
  • Rep. Mark Hart spoke as a representative who supported the original bill and who can now celebrate his county being one of the first rural counties to offer the service.
    Rep. Mark Hart spoke as a representative who supported the original bill and who can now celebrate his county being one of the first rural counties to offer the service.
  • Ambulance Director Jody Dunhoft emceed the celebration. She was contacted soon after the death of the baby to allow for the space. She and others worked to bring the box into being.
    Ambulance Director Jody Dunhoft emceed the celebration. She was contacted soon after the death of the baby to allow for the space. She and others worked to bring the box into being.
  • Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, announced the box was Number 182 in the country and 25 in the nation. Kelsey was abandoned as a baby, and her experience made this project her passion.
    Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, announced the box was Number 182 in the country and 25 in the nation. Kelsey was abandoned as a baby, and her experience made this project her passion.
  • Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer celebrated the emphasis the county gives on life, saying the box shows that.
    Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer celebrated the emphasis the county gives on life, saying the box shows that.

By Carolyn Reid

Easton Corbin Shepperd may have died the night he was born, but his memory was honored at the blessing of the newly-installed Safe Haven box last Thursday, November 9. 

The box was brought into being after the March 1 tragedy that shook long-time first responders. Those men and women wanted to be sure they did anything they could to prevent another such tragedy in the county or in the surrounding area.

As Ambulance Director Jody Dunhoft opened the ceremony of blessing, she acknowledged the tragic night.

“In some ways, this box closes the circle that started March 1 when first responders came on the scene to find the deceased child.” She explained how hard that night for all who arrived, and this was another step toward healing for those who witnessed the tragedy.

The box is the 182nd box in the nation and the 25th in Kentucky. Three babies have been surrendered in the state since the beginning of the year. The first and third children were surrendered in Bowling Green. The second was surrendered in the Okolona neighborhood on the south side of Louisville. 

As was stated earlier, the path to the Pendleton County Safe Haven Box began in Pendleton County March 1, but the state actually set the path in place in 2021 with HB 155. The bill, which was voted into law unanimously with only six absent legislators in the two houses combined, is now known as KRS 405.075, and it allows for a “newborn infant…an infant who is medically determined to be less than 30 days old, can be placed in a device that is “designed to permit a parent to anonymously place a newborn infant in the device with the intent to leave the newborn and for an emergency medical services provider to remove the newborn from the device and take custody of the newborn.”

The KRS goes on to describe the box as having a dual alarm system to be tested one time per month and to be visually checked at least two times per day to ensure the alarm system is in working order. The box is also to be placed inside a fire station, police station or hospital that is staffed 24 hours a day. The box must be placed in a conspicuous spot at the facility of choice. It is also climate-controlled.

Churches may also be used as long as they agree and have the hours of staffing on display.

The parents must understand the newborn is surrendered, and the emergency personnel who accepts the newborn will immediately transport the child to the emergency room. Church staff is responsible for calling 911 for that purpose. The parent(s) will, at that time, have waived all rights to the newborn and to any claim of action against the person who accepts the newborn.

This legislation was sponsored by 27 House members in 2021, one of whom was Rep. Mark Hart of Falmouth. He took the podium first to discuss the legislation, saying the wording on the agenda led to some jokes along the way. “Baby box? Is that like a Jack-in-the-Box, but a baby pops up instead?” Once the concept was explained, though, he quickly got on board. After the ceremony, he marveled. “Little did I know when I sponsored this legislation back in 2021 that my county would be one of the first rural counties in the state to have a Safe Haven Box.”

Judge/Executive David Fields shared with the audience the fact that within one week of the tragedy, Lisa Klee and Monica Kelsey, the founder of Safe Haven Box, was in touch with him, sharing information about the boxes that were becoming more commonplace in the neighboring state of Indiana and were established to help prevent tragedies that took place a week before. Fields said he got in touch with Jody Dunhoft of Pendleton County Ambulance District by March 13 to see if the ambulance service, the only emergency service in the area that is staffed 24/7, would be willing to install it, and the ambulance board and staff were on board with it. By April 18, fiscal court received information regarding the box, and they approved that in the next regular meeting held April 25. By May 14, Main Street Baptist in Campbell County had committed to pay the $15,000 needed for the box. Poe Construction of Alexandria and All Bills Construction of Covington donated their time to install the box.

Monica Kelsey, founder of the non-profit Save Haven Baby Boxes, started by saying she hated the tragedy that brought the box into being in Pendleton County, but her goal with the box was to help ensure it never happened again. She talked about the three babies who had been left in the boxes in Kentucky. “Three babies were saved, three families were able to adopt, and three sets of parents knew they had done what was best.” Kelsey, an abandoned infant herself, said her experience drove her passion and persistence to give opportunities to other babies. Her mother was a 17-year-old who was raped and left. She pressed charges against her attacker and later found she was pregnant by him. She wanted to give other girls and mothers who found themselves in dire situations an opportunity to have a choice.

Bro. Dale Bieghle, chair of the ambulance board and minister of Turner Ridge Baptist Church, spoke of the importance of children to Jesus, and he lamented the children of today are in a world full of addiction, abuse, and neglect. He thanked all involved in bringing the box and its benefits to the county, and Main Street Baptist who made the box possible.

While she wanted to be there, a representative of Right to Life could not be there to celebrate the box, but Lisa Klee, area Safe Haven Baby Box organizer, commended the fire chief, the faith community, and the ambulance and first responders for their work in bringing the box together, and she shared a song in honor of the memory of the lost child. Shelley Funke Frommeyer said she loves the passion and courage of the county and its value it has for life, and it is willing to show it in its actions. She stated it was an important step for the community, a community that says, “We got you.”

The blessing was held by Bill Edwards of Main Street Baptist, and before he prayed the blessing, inviting everyone to stretch out a hand toward the box as he did so, he talked about the fact we are often saying, “We’ll pray for you,” and that is great, he said, but we also need to take action. His church community took action by saying “yes” to helping with the purchase of the box. Later, when asked why the church funded the Pendleton County box rather than placing one in Campbell County, the church responded, “We have many of our church family who live in Pendleton County (including our Senior Pastor Bill Edwards). One of our members was on the call back in March, as well.”

The church confirmed they were also looking for opportunities to place a box in Campbell County.

Fr. Britton Hennessy of St. Francis Xavier and a huge supporter of the ambulance, a shoulder for them the night the infant was discovered, gave the closing, saying the day brought triumph from tragedy.

The Safe Haven Box can be found at the Pendleton County Ambulance Station, 332 KY 330, Falmouth. It will be open for anyone in the area who needs it 24/7, no matter if the person is from Pendleton County or any other town or state.