BELLE — A new Safe Haven Baby Box has been installed at the Ozark Central Ambulance building in Belle, offering a life-saving, anonymous option for parents in crisis who are unable to care for their newborn. The installation marks the 10th Safe Haven Baby Box in Missouri and the 353rd nationwide.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes are part of a national movement that aims to prevent the abandonment of infants by providing safe, legal and anonymous alternatives under state law. The boxes are installed at staffed locations such as fire stations, hospitals, law enforcement agencies or ambulance bases, and allow parents to surrender a newborn up to 90 days old, no questions asked and without fear of prosecution, as long as the surrender is conducted safely.

When a baby is placed inside, interior sensors immediately alert emergency medical staff, who respond within seconds to provide care and ensure the child’s safety before transport to a hospital and coordination with child welfare agencies.

“This is a very special occasion,” said Osage Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Chief Joshua Krull. “We’re entrusted with the safety and well-being of every person in our community, from the first moments of life to the last. Today, we celebrate a community that believes that every life has value and that every baby deserves a chance”

Belle Mayor James Mitchell called the installation “a big deal for our town,” thanking the many individuals and organizations that made it possible. State Representative Bennie Cook, whose district includes Maries County, praised the project as a pro-life achievement that will have an impact across our community.

The Safe Haven Baby Box program was founded by Monica Kelsey, who shared a deeply personal story during the dedication.

In August of 1972, Kelsey’s 17-year-old mother was brutally assaulted and left for dead. Six weeks later, she learned she was pregnant. Urged to have an abortion, she changed her mind at the last moment, carried the pregnancy in secret and abandoned her newborn daughter two hours after birth at an Ohio hospital in April of 1973.

That child was Kelsey.

After serving in the military and working as a firefighter and medic, Kelsey encountered her first “baby box” while visiting Cape Town, South Africa. Inspired by her experience and her own beginnings, she founded Safe Haven Baby Boxes in 2016 to provide mothers in crisis with a safe, anonymous alternative to abandonment.

“I stand on the front lines of this ministry as one of those children who was not lovingly and safely and legally placed in a baby box,” Kelsey told the crowd. “This is my legacy, and I am now their voice. These boxes save the lives of babies, and they save the lives of moms.”

Since its inception, the organization’s 24-hour national hotline has received more than 9,000 calls, leading to over 500 referrals to crisis pregnancy centers, 10 adoption referrals, and more than 150 legal Safe Haven surrenders. In Kelsey’s home state of Indiana, where the first box was installed in 2016, there has not been a single case of a deceased abandoned infant since.

Missouri has now joined that growing network of safe-surrender locations.

“This box offers no shame,” Kelsey said. “It’s about compassion, dignity and giving every baby a chance at life.”

The box was dedicated with a prayer, which was performed by minister and Osage County Sheriff Michael Bonham.

The new Belle baby box is monitored 24 hours a day by Ozark Central Ambulance staff and is available for use immediately.