Sullivan County opens first Safe Haven Baby Box at Bloomingdale Fire Department

KINGSPORT — With a prayer and a blessing, Sullivan County unveiled its first Safe Haven Baby Box at Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department.Mothers can safely and anonymously surrender their newborns using the box, located at the station on John B. Dennis Highway.Dozens of community members and local leaders gathered Friday afternoon to hold a blessing ceremony for the new box. Including Sullivan County, there are now 369 baby boxes in the nation and 23 in Tennessee.Sullivan County resident Jessica White, who spearheaded the effort, said the box was funded entirely by donations from local residents."This was funded by the people in the community who work hard every day," White said. "We have lots of foster children in our system here in Sullivan County, and I wanted to give women a safe option to give their baby to a supporting place. There shouldn't be a stigma around that."Safe Haven Baby Boxes, founded by Indiana native Monica Kelsey in 2016, have spread across the country, said Mariah Betz, assistant project coordinator with Safe Haven."Kelsey, who was herself abandoned as an infant, started the nonprofit to give parents in crisis another option," Betz said.According to the organization, 64 infants have been safely surrendered in baby boxes since 2017.The Bloomingdale box became reality after the Sullivan County Commission approved a resolution last year. The proposal was sponsored by Commissioner Travis Ward and funded by a $20,000 community donation, which covered installation costs.The county will also cover a $41 monthly monitoring fee and a $500 annual inspection fee.Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy called the box a symbol of both safety and compassion."This is a place of comfort, love and community," Cassidy said. "Our number one goal is the safety of the community we serve, and this only enhances our ability. God bless this baby box and each and every one we serve."White said that Carley Verbale, a volunteer at the fire department and Sullivan County 911 dispatcher, played a key role in working with Safe Haven to install the box.How it worksTennessee's Safe Haven Law, enacted in 2001, allows parents to surrender newborns up to 14 days old at hospitals, fire stations, police departments and similar facilities. In 2022, the law was amended to allow the use of baby boxes.To use the box, parents pull a lever to open it, place the infant inside the climate-controlled bassinet and close the door. After about a minute, an alarm notifies authorities.Firefighters then immediately transport the infant to a hospital for medical evaluation before custody is transferred to the Department of Children's Services.Surrounding communities have installed their own baby boxes, including Unicoi County in June 2024, followed by Carter County in November 2024.A safety netThe county has been working on the baby box for about eight months.During Friday's blessing ceremony, Sullivan County Commissioner Travis Ward thanked county officials, the fire department employees and local leaders for their help putting in getting the project to this point."This really has been a community effort and we can't thank everyone enough," Ward said. "To Mark Bowery, [board president of BVFD], thank for letting us put this first baby box up in Sullivan County. I'm very excited for this."Sullivan County Mayor Richard Venable thanked the county commissioners who led and supported the effort."In a perfect world, we wouldn't need this," Venable said. "But we don't live in a perfect world. We do have people who strive to be perfect and that would be our county commissioners, those at the Bloomingdale Fire Department and everyone who has been involved in this. To the county commissioners who led this effort, it wasn't easy."White called the baby box a safety net for mothers to surrender this babies."This is for them. It's for parents who love their children but feel they cannot take care of them," White said.