Roswell becomes third New Mexico city to install a baby box

ROSWELL N.M. – Safe Haven baby boxes have been a big conversation topic lately – and the state of New Mexico even put away funding for each county to install them.

However, the city of Roswell didn’t wait for the state to get the ball rolling on a safe haven box.

City Councilor Juliana Halvorson said a concerned resident reached out to her last year. The resident also reached out to fellow city councilors.

After that, they promptly worked on securing funding.

“After what happened in Hobbs with the baby being in the dumpster, she said we should probably get a baby Safe Haven box here and we thought it was a wonderful idea,” Halvorson said.

Through city partners, they secured part of the funding for a baby box at their Central Fire Station. After doing research, they found out about the available state funding and applied for a grant to cover the rest.

“This just gives people an option, we hope it’s never used but we do want to make the option available for moms that are in desperate need,” said Halvorson said.

The city ordered the box. After it arrives, it’ll take around 4-6 weeks to install the box.

“Being in the center of Roswell it’s the perfect location for anybody to go to the box and to utilize it,” she said.

Roswell is the third town to install a baby box. Española installed New Mexico’s first baby box back in February 2022. Lea County also installed one using state funding.