In August of 1972, a 17-year-old girl was brutally attacked, raped, and left for dead on the side of the road. She pressed charges against her assaulter, and he was arrested and charged, only to find out six weeks later that she was pregnant. Her own mother advised her to pursue a back-alley abortion, and as she stood in front of the man who was about to do the procedure, the young woman changed her mind. She was hidden from the outside world for the remainder of the pregnancy and abandoned her baby at a small hospital in Ohio just two hours after giving birth.

This abandoned baby was Monica Kelsey–and this is where the story of Safe Haven Baby Boxes began.

After spending years in the military and working as an emergency responder, Monica Kelsey took a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, where she was exposed to her first “baby box.” The experience, coupled with her own history as an abandoned infant, ignited a profound and new sense of purpose for her. Determined to make a difference, Monica founded Safe Haven Baby Boxes, transforming her personal journey into a mission to save lives and support mothers in crisis.