GATLINBURG, Tenn.— The City of Gatlinburg dedicated and blessed a new Safe Haven Baby Box at Gatlinburg Fire Department Station No. 2 on Wednesday, December 10, providing a secure, anonymous option for parents in crisis to safely surrender a newborn.
The Safe Haven Baby Box is installed on an exterior wall of Station No. 2, located at 309 Reagan Drive, and allows a parent to safely and legally surrender a newborn without face-to-face interaction.
“This Baby Box is more than a piece of equipment. It is a symbol of hope. It is a promise that in those rare moments when a parent is in crisis, when fear and uncertainty feel overwhelming, our community offers a safe place, a legal place, a loving place to surrender an infant without shame, without judgment, and without risk,” Gatlinburg City Manager Greg Patterson said. “This Baby Box may be small, but the love behind it is enormous. It embodies the kind of community we strive to be: one that sees every life as precious, one that opens its arms rather than turns away, one that chooses compassion over judgment.
“To anyone who might someday need this box, whether we ever know your name or not, please know this: You are not alone. Your child will be safe. The Gatlinburg community cares,” Patterson said.
Once the door of the Baby Box is opened and a baby is placed inside, internal and external doors lock, and an alarm notifies on-duty firefighters and EMS personnel inside the station. The infant can be reached in seconds and transported to a hospital for evaluation and care.
The installation at Station No. 2 was made possible through the collaboration of the City of Gatlinburg, and the Gatlinburg Fire Department, the support of the Gatlinburg City Commission, dedicated voices in the community which supported this mission – including Dorothy Johnson – and the generous donation of construction by Horner Building Company.
The box, which is the 401st Safe Haven Baby Box installed in the United States and the 26th in Tennessee, will operate in accordance with Tennessee’s Safe Haven law, which allows parents to confidentially surrender an unharmed newborn at designated facilities, such as hospitals and staffed fire stations.
“It takes a very brave parent to surrender their infant and give them a chance for a loving, caring home,” said Jessi Getrost of Safe Haven Baby Boxes. “The Fire Department has a lot of living saving tools and now they have another one here that is another means to save a life here in Gatlinburg and surrounding areas.
“How great is it today that we can bless a box in the side of the wall, so we don’t have to bless a box going into the ground. This box offers no shame, no name, and no blame,” Getrost said.
For more information on the Safe Haven Baby Box, please contact the Gatlinburg Fire Department at 865-436-5112.
For the latest updates from the City of Gatlinburg, visit GatlinburgTN.gov or visit the City’s Social Media pages on Facebook and X. Individuals can also keep up with the latest from the City of Gatlinburg by downloading the City’s Mobile App on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store by searching for “City of Gatlinburg”
###