The box is a climate-controlled safety device that legally permits a mother in crisis to surrender her unwanted newborn safely, securely, and anonymously. Crestview’s baby box is on an exterior wall at the city Fire Communications Center, which is manned 24/7 and located at Fire Station 1, 321 W. Woodruff Ave.
Crestview is the first city in the Florida Panhandle and only the fourth statewide to have a baby box. The other three cities are Ocala, Newberry, and Crystal River.
This past July, the Crestview City Council approved a five-year lease and service agreement with the Woodburn, Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes nonprofit organization that provided the box.
“The parent opens the door to the Baby Box, which triggers a silent alarm, and a call goes to 911 dispatch,” SHBB officials said on their website. “The infant is placed in a medical bassinet. A sensor located on the inside of the box triggers a second 911 dispatch call. The exterior door automatically locks upon placement of a newborn. Within five minutes, the infant will be rescued by first responders. An interior door allows a medical staff member to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the designated building. The infant will be quickly taken to the hospital for medical evaluation.”
According to the council-approved lease and service agreement, the city will pay an initial fee of $15,000 to SHBB. Each year, the city must pay a $500 annual fee to SHBB, and every five years a renewal fee of at least $500 is due to the organization.
Other costs include installation and annual monitoring service costs. Brown, who a few years ago initiated the idea of having a baby box in Crestview, provided $5,000 from her council discretionary fund to the initiative.
“It took a lot of people” to make the project a reality, Brown said at Monday’s ceremony.
She said the support of outgoing city Fire Chief Tony Holland, who plans to retire in February, was critical. Numerous donors included the North Crestview Campus of Crosspoint United Methodist Church. Mitchell Reed, CEO of the UKnighted XP charity, partnered with Brown and “napkinned the strategy” for Crestview’s baby box at the Gator Café in Baker, introduced Crestview Mayor J.B. Whitten to Ocala’s mayor, and helped Hub City officials raise money for the initiative.
“We just appreciate everybody that has helped with this, and everybody that’s prayed about this,” Brown said. “To God be the glory.”
Reed said he and Brown’s approach to getting the baby box installed was humanitarian focused.
“It wasn’t about religion or politics,” Reed said after the ceremony. “We made sure from the beginning that it was focused on the humanitarian good.”
While leading a prayer at the ceremony, the Rev. Jason Allen from Woodlawn Baptist Church prayed for support and strength for parents who use the baby box.
“You are not alone,” Allen said.
Holland said the last time an infant was surrendered to a city fire station was around 2004, at Fire Station 2 on P.J. Adams Parkway.
Whitten during the ceremony thanked Jeff King, founder of Kingstruction, in Crestview, for installing the baby box and donating $2,000 for the initiative, and OLV Knights of Columbus for donating $500 and hosting a fundraiser that raised $3,600 for the project.
The alarm system for the baby box was installed by GSC Systems of Fort Walton Beach.