Midwest
Founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes shares her story and hope for the future: 'A God-given purpose'
With Wisconsin recently legalizing “baby boxes” for anyone to surrender their newborn babies anonymously, the founder of the Safe Haven Baby Box program told Fox News Digital that there is still more work to be done across the United States.
The new law, passed in December, expanded the Badger State’s previous Safe Haven law, which permitted a parent to leave an infant younger than 72 hours old at a fire department, police department or hospital.
Now, with “baby boxes” legal in Wisconsin, a person can drop off these children anonymously (previously, it was required that the handoff happen face-to-face).
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“We’re currently active in 14 states,” Monica Kelsey, the Indiana-based founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc., told Fox News Digital in an interview.
The first baby boxes should arrive in Wisconsin within a few months, she estimated.
Monica Kelsey, based in Indiana, is founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc. She’s also the author of the book, “Blessed to Have Been Abandoned” (2021), a U.S. Navy veteran — and a mom of three. (Monica Kelsey)
“Baby boxes” with anonymous surrenders are legal in 22 states — a figure that Kelsey hopes will grow in the near future. (Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc. does not presently operate in all states where the boxes themselves are legal.)
A “baby box” is a safety device provided for use under a state’s Safe Haven Law. It “legally permits a mother in crisis to safely, securely and anonymously surrender if they are unable to care for their newborn,” says the organization’s website.
These boxes are installed in the exterior walls of fire departments or other locations — and are electronically monitored and temperature controlled.
“Their child’s life is going to go on. Their life is going to go on.”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said of the new baby box law in his state, known as Wisconsin Act 79, “Expanding safeguards for kids across Wisconsin is a priority for my administration, and this bill provides a solution that will hopefully keep newborns and infants safe from harm.”
He added in a press statement shared by his office in early December, “I will continue to advocate for initiatives that work to make our communities and families safer, and I look forward to seeing more bipartisan bills like this in the future.”
In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, Pro-Life Wisconsin said that it “supports efforts to prevent the illegal abandonment of newborn infants, often resulting in their tragic demise, by offering ways to hand over newborns lawfully and safely to proper authorities,” said Matt Sande, legislative director of the organization.
‘They can surrender their child’
When a person places an infant in the box, an alarm will alert after a set period of time, letting officials know a child is inside and allowing the person to avoid attention.
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A door on the interior side of the box allows for medical professionals to access the baby and provide medical care.
There “is 100% anonymity,” Kelsey told Fox News Digital.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes, like the one above, are legal in 22 states. They allow for the safe and anonymous surrender of an infant. (Safe Haven Baby Boxes)
“If they [the parents or caregivers] don’t want to walk in and face someone, if they don’t want to talk to you, they can surrender their child in an electronically monitored baby box and walk away knowing that they just saved their child’s life,” she said.
“Their child’s life is going to go on. Their life is going to go on.”
While each state has some sort of “Safe Haven” law allowing for the surrender of an infant up to a certain age, the laws differ from state to state.
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For instance, some states, Kelsey said, allow parents to surrender their children up to three months after their births — others, just three days after their births.
A federal law, she suggested, would streamline the process and make an already complicated and stressful situation easier to understand.
“If [the law] is confusing to [advocates] and we’re not in a moment of crisis, then it’s confusing to these women who are having the worst day of their life, and they’re trying to figure out what the law is,” she said.
As an adult, Kelsey met her biological mother, something she described as “the best and worst day of my life.” Much to her shock, her biological mother showed her a police report from August 1972 — with stunning details. (iStock)
The crusade to ensure the safe surrender of babies is personal to Kelsey — as she herself was abandoned as an infant.
“I didn’t know my beginnings,” she told Fox News Digital.
While she was aware she was adopted, her adoptive parents were not told the truth about her origins.
“My goal is to stop infant abandonment.”
“My adoptive parents were told when they adopted me that my birth parents were young and they couldn’t care for me, so they placed me for adoption,” she said.
“And that was not even close to the truth,” said Kelsey, who is the mother of three children.
As an adult, Kelsey met her biological mother, something she described as “the best and worst day of my life.”
Much to her shock, her biological mother showed her a police report from August 1972.
Kelsey said she hopes that one day a federal “Safe Haven” law will be passed. For now, each state has different laws and policies. Above, a baby box is shown in Kentucky. (Grace Ramey/Daily News via AP)
“She was brutally attacked and raped and left along the side of the road,” said Kelsey. “And this was in 1972, when abortion was illegal in our country, even in the cases of rape and incest.”
Her biological mother, just 17 at the time of the attack, pressed charges against the man.
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She later discovered she was pregnant.
“She was taken out of high school, not allowed to go back,” said Kelsey of her biological mother. “She was hidden for the remainder of the pregnancy.”
“She abandoned her child two hours after the child was born. That child ended up to be me.”
She continued, “And then she gave birth in April 1973 and abandoned her child two hours after the child was born. And that child ended up to be me.”
Kelsey added, “And so I stand on the front lines of this movement as one of these kids that wasn’t lovingly and safely and legally placed in a Safe Haven Baby Box by a mother that wanted me.”
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Despite her tumultuous start in life, Kelsey said she considers herself “blessed,” and is motivated by her strong faith.
“How blessed am I to to have been abandoned but now be saving abandoned children,” she told Fox News Digital.
“And it’s just it’s a God-given purpose. I don’t take it lightly,” she said. “I take it very seriously. And now I’m traveling the country doing His work.”
Monica Kelsey poses for a selfie with a child who was surrendered in a Safe Haven Baby Box. She said she knows these children are “going to struggle. One day they’re going to struggle to find their worth … But I want them to know they’re not alone.” (Monica Kelsey)
Kelsey wrote the book “Blessed to Have Been Abandoned: The Story of the Baby Box Lady,” published in April 2021.
She sends an autographed copy to each baby placed in one of the boxes.
“In this book, it shows the struggle of finding my worth,” she said.
“And they’re going to struggle one day. They’re going to struggle. One day they’re going to struggle to find their worth,” she said.
“But I want them to know that they’re not alone.”
Looking ahead, Kelsey said she has no specific goals for the Safe Haven Baby Boxes, apart from the big picture of child safety.
“I can’t change what happened to me — but I can change what happens to others.”
“My goal is to stop infant abandonment,” said Kelsey. “And wherever Christ leads me is where I’m going to go.”
As she also said to Fox 13 not long ago, “I can’t change what happened to me — but I can change what happens to others.”
What to know about Safe Haven Baby Boxes
The organization’s primary goal is to raise awareness of the Safe Haven Law.
Women in crisis can call or text the national 24-hour hotline (1-866-99BABY1) and receive counseling and assistance free of charge, according to the group.
To date, the hotline has received over 9,000 calls from every state in the U.S., it notes on its website (shbb.org).
Safe Haven Baby Boxes has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in 9 adoption referrals, and had over 140 legal Safe Haven surrenders.
“Thirty-seven babies have been surrendered in our Baby Boxes,” says the organization.
“Three babies were surrendered directly to firefighters at Safe Haven Baby Box locations.”
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
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A health clinic in western Wisconsin was temporarily put into lockdown Thursday afternoon after a threatening phone call.
Just after 2 p.m., Barron County officials received a 911 call from a staff member at the Marshfield Medical Center Emergency Department in Rice Lake, stating that someone called and said two men were going to “shoot up the hospital” in about 20 minutes.
After interviewing the staff member later, it was determined that the man who called had disguised his voice and got upset before hanging up the phone, according to the Rice Lake Police Department.
Rice Lake police, the Barron County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol responded to the scene, and the medical facility was secured.
Any patients who wanted to leave the facility were allowed to do so, authorities noted.
During the lockdown, law enforcement discovered there were similar threats, known as “swatting calls,” at other places across the state on Thursday.
At about 4:18 p.m., the lockdown was lifted, and authorities cleared the scene. Rice Lake police added that no one was injured during the incident.
The police department said it will continue investigating the threat with other law enforcement agencies.
The Rice Lake health center is roughly two hours northeast of the Twin Cities, and approximately 50 miles north of Eau Claire. The center’s website says it offers both inpatient and outpatient practice, covering a wide range of services.
A spokesperson for the health system told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the clinic was closed for the rest of the day Thursday, but hospital operations have since returned to normal.
“The safety of our patients and staff at Marshfield Medical Center-Rice Lake is our top priority,” the system added.
Entering free agency, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the idea that the Detroit Pistons could be set to lose restricted free agent Jalen Duren.
The gap in contract negotiations sent Duren and his camp into free agency, looking to not only prove Detroit wrong about his market value but find a team that would ink him to the massive payday he’s searching for, even if it meant landing on a rebuilding team like the Sacramento Kings.
Between Sacramento’s interest, the Los Angeles Lakers’ flirting with an all-out pursuit for the 22-year-old star, and Duren’s intrigue with landing on the Boston Celtics, it felt like the Pistons didn’t have the leverage they were hoping for, even with Detroit signaling they’d match any offer sheet.
However, the Lakers have landed Walker Kessler, the Celtics have signed Mitchell Robinson and offloaded Jaylen Brown, and the Kings aren’t even a real consideration without Detroit willing to facilitate a sign-and-trade.
The silence from Duren’s camp over the last couple of days is deafening, and it signals that the leverage is back in the Pistons’ court.
Pistons are Jalen Duren’s best option
Detroit may not have offered Duren the supermax extension he was searching for, but several reports have suggested the Pistons did offer a deal they felt was enough for the former first-round pick to return to the Motor City.
With the Lakers now out of the picture, the Celtics’ future in serious question, and no other team with cap space available to make a run, the Pistons are Duren’s best option to not only get paid but also contend.
Duren has a great relationship with superstar guard Cade Cunningham, and while it’s clear that his priorities were landing a bag this summer, there’s no reason why he can’t get the best of both worlds by receiving a notable raise and returning to the place he’s called home since 2022.
The Pistons lost Tobias Harris in free agency, they moved on from Isaiah Stewart, and the futures of Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson are still very much in question.
Detroit can’t let another key piece of their top-seeded roster exit this offseason, even if there’s a massive gripe about how Duren played during the playoffs.
Fresh off an All-Star season that landed him an All-NBA nod, the Pistons want to retain him, and with his options disappearing fast, Duren should be more open to a return now.
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A hospital bed. That was the only thing that could stop Dominique Paul Noth from doing a review.
An ice storm tried a couple of years ago, coming to Milwaukee the same night as a dance recital. It failed. When he could no longer drive and gave up his license, one of his children would take him, or he’d Uber to a performance. That was his level of dedication.
Then, one month before his passing, Noth, stuck in a hospital bed and hooked up to an oxygen tank, acquiesced, calling his editor to inform him he would not be able to review Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” For the first time in his 60 years as an arts critic in Milwaukee, the show would go on without him.
“He was not happy about it,” his son Vincent said.
“It’s something I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do before,” added Paul, the third oldest Noth’s nine children.
Noth, who influenced Milwaukee’s discussion of culture and the arts for close to six decades, died on June 26 at 84 years old. He had advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated by heart failure.
Conceived while his parents were escaping the Nazis in France, Noth was born in New York in 1942. He moved to Milwaukee as a teenager and went to Marquette University, where he fell in love with the arts.
Noth graduated in 1963, and worked in New York for three years before being hired by the Milwaukee Journal, where he worked in a variety of positions for three decades. Starting as a copy editor, he soon made a switch to news writing before becoming a film and drama critic.
He kept rising, becoming an arts and senior features editor, working on the publication’s beloved Green Sheet in the 1970’s. Noth stayed at the newspaper long enough to serve as the first online news producer for the merged Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In the 1970’s and 80’s, he also taught a film course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. After leaving the Journal Sentinel, he served as editor-in-chief of The Milwaukee Labor Press for a decade before becoming a contributing theater and culture critic for Urban Milwaukee.
Noth’s writing earned numerous honors, including nine gold medals from The Milwaukee Press Club for Best Critic. Never afraid to ruffle feathers with searing reviews, Noth said “the force fizzled” in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” He even briefly got himself banned from reviewing a Skylight Theater show in 1974 because of past rhetoric.
“He approached Milwaukee as if it was New York, L.A., Chicago,” said Jeannie Gaffigan, Noth’s oldest daughter. “He really always believed in Milwaukee, and always believed in the arts in Milwaukee.”
His access to subjects often set him apart. Once, when Cary Grant was getting into a taxi to go to the airport, Noth followed the actor into the cab to secure an exclusive interview. He also got a one-on-one with Steven Spielberg by talking his way past security after the filmmaker spurned other media.
Noth juggled working tirelessly with raising a family, and often involved them in his jobs. He would take his children to exclusive, private screenings and even more exclusive interviews. His kids attended his UWM classes, and sat in the Milwaukee Journal offices while he typed his reviews.
He also loved to cook and bake, making everything from scratch.
“I have no idea how he did as much as he did,” son Paul said. “He was able to accomplish a lot.”
Even though his body was not fit to leave the hospital, Noth was able to give his family one final gift before he died. Surrounded by all his kids and many grandkids, Noth went around the room and gave a personalized goodbye to everybody.
“It’s a great blessing,” Paul said, “but it’s also a very emotional, devastating time.”
Noth told them even though he could no longer continue to make the world a better place, he trusted each and every one of them to carry on that legacy.
In that vein, his family established the Dominique Paul Noth Memorial Fund, which is now accepting donations. The fund, according to its website, will be used to support charitable causes that enrich the greater Milwaukee community, foster creativity and education, and strengthen civic life.
A celebration of life for Noth will begin at 2 p.m. on August 2 at Turner Hall, followed by a memorial tribute at 4 p.m.
Jack Albright can be reached at JAlbright@usatodayco.com.
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