BELEN, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Belen is now home to New Mexico’s fourth Safe Haven Baby Box. The city officially unveiled the new box, which is located at the Belen Fire Station, on Tuesday, October 24.
The newest baby box follows the installation of those in Española, Hobbs, and Carlsbad; it is now the closest one to the Albuquerque area. So far, the only box to have had a baby dropped off in it is the Safe Haven box in Hobbs.
The inspiration for the boxes came about when the Safe Haven founder and CEO went to South Africa and saw the idea implemented successfully there. The founder says communities with these boxes are being proactive in protecting infants.
“When a baby comes through that baby box, we got it from here; the fire department has it from here. That baby is going to be taken care of. It’s going to be placed with a set of adoptive parents that have probably been praying for a child for many years. And so the process works. Finding a baby in a box is a hell of a lot better than finding a baby in a dumpster.”
Safe Haven Founder and CEO Monica Kelsey
