Monica Kelsey, CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, speaks at a ceremonial blessing of a baby box at San Antonio’s Fire Station 7, at 1414 S. St. Mary’s Street in Southtown. The specially designed boxes offer mothers in crisis a safe, anonymous way to surrender newborns.
Jacob Beltran
Pamela Allen, CEO of the nonprofit Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, speaks at a ceremonial blessing of a Safe Haven Baby Box at San Antonio’s Fire Station 7, at 1414 S. St. Mary’s Street in Southtown. The boxes offer mothers in crisis a safe, anonymous way to surrender newborns.
Jacob Beltran
An instructional poster for a newly installed Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 7 at 1414 S. St. Mary’s Street in Southtown.
Jacob Beltran
A newly installed Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 7 at 1414 S. St. Mary’s Street in Southtown.
Jacob Beltran
Over the years, San Antonio newborns have been abandoned in a recycling plant, in a restroom, in a dumpster and in a suitcase left beside a highway.
Now, city officials hope to deter such acts of desperation by offering parents in crisis a safe, anonymous place to surrender an infant, and one where firefighters can be alerted and reach the baby quickly.
Article continues below this ad
On Tuesday, the San Antonio Fire Department put into operation three specially designed Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
A chaplain blessed one of the boxes at Fire Station 7, at 1414 S. St. Mary’s St. in Southtown. The two others were installed at Station 18, located at 1410 S. W.W. White Rd. on the East Side, and Station 24, at 2265 Austin Highway on the Northeast Side.
“Isn’t it a blessing that we’re here to bless a box going into a wall, so that tomorrow we don’t have to bless a box going into the ground?” said Monica Kelsey, founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes. The Indiana nonprofit operates a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis and supplies baby boxes “as a last resort option.”
Kelsey, a Navy veteran and former firefighter, was abandoned by her mother as a newborn and raised by adoptive parents.
Article continues below this ad
The temperature-controlled boxes are installed on the exterior walls of fire stations and hospitals. The box’s outer door locks automatically when a newborn is placed inside, and a silent alarm alerts firefighters. An interior door in the box allows first responders instant access to retrieve the infant.
READ ALSO: Mystery Texas transgender mailers linked to printing firm owned by major Trump donor
“We hope no parent finds themselves with this being their only choice, but if that moment comes, we want them to know that there is a safe alternative,” San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto said.
A newly installed Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 7 at 1414 S. St. Mary’s Street in Southtown.
Jacob Beltran
Under Texas’ Baby Moses Law, enacted in 1999, a parent may surrender an unharmed infant who is 60 days old or younger at an approved location, such as a hospital, fire station or EMS station. The law protects parents from prosecution for abandonment when its requirements are met.
Article continues below this ad
In 2023, state lawmakers expanded the law to allow approved facilities to install newborn safety devices, including baby boxes.
The need for safe surrender options has been underscored by recurring tragedies. In 2013, an infant named Baby Noel was found dead in a duffel bag on a conveyor belt at an East Side recycling center. In 2015, a newborn named Christian was found dead in a suitcase beside Interstate 37.
In January 2025, a man took a newborn from a friend’s apartment to get medical care after the mother unexpectedly gave birth in a toilet and did not seek help. In May of the same year, a dead fetus was discovered in a dumpster on the North Side.
The city’s efforts to bring the boxes to fire stations began in 2022, when then-City Councilman John Courage proposed the idea. The city initially set aside $438,000 for 12 boxes in 2023. The number was later reduced to 10. Three have been installed.
Article continues below this ad
Kelsey said seven babies had been surrendered in Texas boxes so far this year, a record for the state.
READ ALSO: Nathan Martinez’s murder trial begins in 2023 drive-by killing of teen
Pamela Allen, CEO of Eagles Flight Advocacy and Outreach, a Boerne nonprofit that assists families in need, said a parent may consider abandoning a baby if they are subject to domestic violence, are being trafficked or suffer from mental health problems. Teenagers whose parents do not know they are pregnant may see no alternative to abandoning a newborn, she said.
“The biggest thing for mothers is to be able to do it and be anonymous,” Allen said. “We don’t know what her situation is, and I’m definitely not going to judge it.”
Article continues below this ad
At Tuesday’s ceremony, Fire Department chaplain Jesse Davila offered a prayer for parents and families in crisis, and said the box would offer babies a chance at a better future.
“Let this vessel be a reminder that no one is alone, and that compassion is always just a reach away,” Davila said.