Nicole Olson will never forget the day, Jan. 23, 2011. She was teaching when she got the text from her husband.
“It said ‘best day ever,’ that’s all,” she said.
Nicole just assumed her husband Mike was having a really great day. A few minutes later her phone rang. The family got a call from their adoption agency: A newborn was dropped off at a Safe Haven location and the social worker asked if they wanted to take him.
Nicole and Mark raced to Target to buy a bunch of clothes, diapers and baby items and then went to pick up their son.
“He’s completed our family,” Olson said.
Since the newborn was dropped off at a designated Safe Haven location and not abandoned, he was placed with the Olsons right away and did not have to go into the foster care system.
“Baby Safe Haven works,” Olson said. “There is a reason it’s in all 50 states.”
Since the program started around 2003, more than 3,400 babies have been dropped off at Safe Haven locations across the nation.
Nicole and Mike now volunteer at Safe Haven and hope to educate others about the program.
“So many people don’t know what it is,” said Olson, “or they ask me at what QT my baby was left at because they think of safe place.”
Safe Haven locations include hospitals, fire stations, adoption agencies and some churches. In some locations, the newborn can be placed in a safe and secure bin or handed over to a person.
Nicole and Mike adopted Porter after about seven months.
“I can’t image life without Porter now,” said Mike Olson.
Nicole calls Porter her “heart baby” because she loves him so much. The family hopes to spread the word about the Safe Haven program and the difference between dropping a newborn off at one of those locations instead of another place.
If the newborn is taken or left anywhere but a Safe Haven location, the Department of Child Safety must get involved and the child will almost always end up in the foster care system.
If you would like more information about Safe Haven you can go to its website: www.azsbh.org.