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Cloudy early with thunderstorms developing later in the day. Near record high temperatures. High 71F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
Mostly clear. Low 58F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
ABOVE: Searcy Fire Chief Brian Dunavan gives a presentation to the Searcy City Council on how Safe Haven Baby Boxes work, with help from Monica Kelsey, chief executive officer and founder of the Indiana-based company. The council is expected to consider a resolution on the city adding a baby box at its March meeting.
LEFT: Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been placed in nine Arkansas cities to give parents surrendering a child a safe place to go. A baby was put in one in Benton in 2020 and one in Conway in 2022.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been placed in nine Arkansas cities to give parents surrendering a child a safe place to go. A baby was put in one in Benton in 2020 and one in Conway in 2022.
ABOVE: Searcy Fire Chief Brian Dunavan gives a presentation to the Searcy City Council on how Safe Haven Baby Boxes work, with help from Monica Kelsey, chief executive officer and founder of the Indiana-based company. The council is expected to consider a resolution on the city adding a baby box at its March meeting.
LEFT: Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been placed in nine Arkansas cities to give parents surrendering a child a safe place to go. A baby was put in one in Benton in 2020 and one in Conway in 2022.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been placed in nine Arkansas cities to give parents surrendering a child a safe place to go. A baby was put in one in Benton in 2020 and one in Conway in 2022.
It appears that Searcy will become the 10th city in Arkansas to have a Safe Haven Baby Box thanks in part to the generosity of a firefighter’s mother.
Fire Chief Brian Dunavan made a presentation to the Searcy City Council on the baby box earlier this month, and the council is expected to consider a resolution at its March meeting.
Appearing before the council with Dunavan were firefighters Dillon Strayhorn and Steven Robinson, along with Strayhorn’s mother, Pamela Bell.
Strayhorn told The Daily Citizen that he had heard his mom say something about a “baby box” years ago and then one day at the fire station, he overheard Robinson talking about it.
“I went to him and asked him what is up with that and he said it was something that he wanted to do,” Strayhorn said, “and it is something that he is pretty passionate about and he is trying to figure out how to get donations to do it.”
Strayhorn said he thinks it costs about $14,000 to get a baby box installed. He called his mom and told her about the baby box and asked her if it was still something she wanted to do and she said, yes, that she would love to do it.
Bell, according to Strayhorn, is a retired mental health counselor so she was wanting to do something that will help people and bring awareness.
“If you are not able to keep your baby,” Strayhorn said, “it might not always be financial reasons, it might be mental health reasons and stuff like that. So it is something she has really been passionate about, but she didn’t really have an outlet because you have to have the police department or fire department to help.”
Strayhorn said his mom will pay for the baby box and there is also a $300 fee per year for the box that he said she will pay for a few years.
“I think she has actually been approached by a couple of people that want to help pay for it,” he said. “I guess they just feel compelled to help pay for it.”
He said his mom said the more people give, the longer that she will be able to pay the yearly fee.
Robinson told The Daily Citizen that he and his wife “did a little bit of foster care and we were driving to Conway and saw the billboard sign. [about the Safe Haven Baby Box] ... and we talked about it and were like ‘that’s something that Searcy needs.’ I feel like that is a big need for our community, so I did some research and reached out to Safe Haven Baby Boxes and that’s how it got started.”
Robinson said Safe Haven takes care of putting up all the signs “and getting the word out there. They have a 24-hour hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, for any women in distress that they can call anytime. It’s a really ‘put-together’ organization and I am excited that we’re going to be working with them.”
The organization’s website shows that there are baby boxes located in Benton, Rogers, Springdale, Jones, Conway, Maumelle, Fort Smith, El Dorado and Nashville. All but one of those is located at a fire station.
In 2020, a baby was placed in a Benton baby box and last February, one was placed in Conway’s box.
“Heaven forbid a mother or father doesn’t want a baby within 30 days after giving birth,” Dunavan told the council. “Instead of doing something that we would all regret, as far as just getting rid of the baby with no one knowing about it, this is an opportunity for that person to be able to give the baby to a safe environment.
“Sometimes they don’t want anybody to know so it’s one of those things that we are able to take a baby in within 30 days of the pregnancy and be able to get it to the hospital or get it into the system where that baby can be taken care of.”
Dunavan said the baby box would be put at one of the fire stations and it would have an alarm on it. “When the box is open, a silent alarm goes off to alert us, alert dispatch and then they let us know. That way when that door shuts, it is locked and it can’t be opened from the outside. We go in, check the baby, get it and immediately take the baby to an ER where it can get the care that is needs.”
The alarm sounds one minute after the box is closed, allowing time for the parent to leave if they do not want face-to-face interaction.
Councilman David Morris said someone placing their baby in a baby box “sure beats a dumpster somewhere in town. It would be a very cheap cost to save a baby’s life.”
Dunavan said the monthly fee is for the upkeep and inspection of the box. Firefighters would be checking the box daily as part of their routines, just like checking the engines. “We already have an alarm system in our station so it would just be a matter of adding this to it. It would be minimal cost.”
Councilman Chris Howell asked what the options were now for someone leaving a baby.
“Arkansas has a Safe Haven Law,” Dunavan said. “It’s 30 days after the pregnancy after they deliver the baby, they can take the baby to a police, fire, EMS, the hospital and surrender the baby. They don’t get charged with an abandonment, being abandoned.. This saves that person who doesn’t want anybody to know, instead giving it to someone who cares.
“We see it all the time, it can be in a dumpster. You can look at the news and see where babies are left on the side of the road or just thrown away. That person is not in their right mind to be able to want to get rid of a baby. This is just a way for us as a city and a community to have an option. ... I hope we never have to use it but I’d like to have it there to be able to save at least one baby.”
Strayhorn said just like the fire department raises money through car washes for cancer research, the firefighter will probably raise money for the baby box. Dunavan said the Ladies Auxiliary will probably be helping out with fundraisers to be able to absorb the $300 per year.
Mayor Mat Faulkner asked about the location of the baby box and Dunavan told him they would be getting with Monica Kelsey, the chief executive of the baby box company in Indiana, on that decision. He mentioned two choices as being at Fire Station No. 2 near Unity Health-White County Medical Center or Central Station on West Beebe-Capps Expressway.
Dunavan said 135 Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been installed across the United States. There have been at least 21 babies surrendered inside Safe Haven Baby Boxes since 2017, and 122 surrenders nationwide from calls to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes hotline.
Faulkner also asked about promoting the baby box. Dunavan said it would be on the fire department’s website and Facebook page plus the city’s web page as well as radio and the newspaper. “We can get it out there,” he said.
What: Expected to consider resolution on adding Safe Haven Baby Box at one of city's fire stations
Cost: $14,000 installation set to be paid by firefighter Dillon Strayhorn's mother, Pamela Bell, along with $300 yearly fee initially
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