The Oak Ridge Fire Department’s Station 3 at 333 Tuskegee Dr. is now the proud home of Tennessee’s eighth Safe Haven Baby Box.
This will be Tennessee’s eighth baby box and the sixth one in East Tennessee. Other baby box locations can be found in Hendersonville, Lawrenceburg, and Jackson, as well as across Middle and West Tennessee.
Families in crisis now have a safe and anonymous option to drop off their newborns, thanks to the installation of temperature-controlled boxes on the outside walls of buildings. These boxes are manned by staff 24/7, ensuring that the babies are well taken care of.
Members of the Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Public Works and Oak Ridge Electric, along with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, City Manager Randy Hemann, First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge Associate Pastor Rev. Jenny Caughman, and Safe Haven CEO Monica Kelsey, were all present at the opening ceremony for the box hosted by Safe Haven.
In 2020, the body of a newborn wrapped in a T-shirt was discovered along the banks of Melton Hill Lake. The baby, who has been named Baby Wyatt, remains unidentified. To honor his memory, the Oak Ridge box has been created.