ROSWELL, N.M. – The City of Roswell dedicated the 200th baby box in the nation at the Roswell Fire Department Wednesday morning. It’s the sixth baby box in New Mexico. 

A Roswell city councilor says the idea of getting a baby box to Roswell came from the community. 

“In May of 2022, the city council received an email from a lady, and she asked us to consider getting a safe haven box for Roswell,” said Roswell City Councilor Cristina Arnold.  

The baby box was in the works for nearly two years and all the funding came from the community. 

“We didn’t actually sit here and wait for legislation to pass, and we didn’t wait for funding from the city to become available. We just put our boots to the ground and started just raising money, because it’s something that we knew we needed to have in our community,” said Arnold. 

Getting the baby box installed is only the first step for the city. 

“Our next step is education. So the team kind of knew that once we get the box in, it’s not over. We will be out presenting, we will be hanging fliers, we will be letting the communities, the surrounding communities in Chaves County, and in Roswell know that this exists,” said Arnold.

The founder of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes says when she started the nonprofit, she didn’t have much support.

“I did not have the support of the government. They actually were against the idea of putting boxes in this country. They said we’re going to go backward, and many babies will die,” said Monica Kelsey, founder of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

She says the mission has always been to prevent illegal abandonment of babies. 

“This box is now available for women in this community and beyond. This box offers no shame, no blame, and no names,” said Kelsey.

Farmington expects to dedicate another baby box later this month. Portales is also expecting to get a baby box installed in the near future.