Our Mission

A Safe Haven for Newborns is dedicated to saving the precious lives of newborns from the dangers of abandonment and assisting pregnant girls and women in crisis.

To eliminate infant abandonment in Florida through education, prevention and community involvement and to assist pregnant girls and women to realize a productive future.

“Safe Haven for Newborns” began in response to the tragedy of newborn abandonment in Florida. The Gloria M. Silverio Foundation a 501(C)3 Florida not for profit organization established a program in 2001, called “A Safe Haven for Newborns”. We are not affiliated with any organizations and we “partner” with everyone statewide.

The Florida Safe Haven Law was enacted in 2000 in response to an increasing number of newborn infants left to die in dumpsters, garbage cans, ditches, along lakes, canals and other hazardous places.  Desperate young mothers who are hiding their pregnancy, in great fear and mental distress and don’t know what to do, have too often chosen the frantic path of abandoning their newborns only to face charges in the legal system. The unthinkable act of these young mothers not only destroyed the lives of these babies, it made them criminals. Two lives lost unnecessarily.

“Safe Haven” is a safety net for both the mother and the newborn infant. It allows mothers, fathers or whoever is in possession of an unharmed newborn, approximately seven days old or less, to leave them with someone at Safe Havens: any hospital, staffed fire rescue station, or staffed emergency medical service station, with no questions asked, totally anonymous, free from fear of prosecution. The hospital will contact a participating private adoption agency who will then arrange placement of the newborn with a waiting family.

The Safe Havens: hospitals, fire rescue stations and emergency medical service stations working to receive these babies coupled with the identity protection of the parent, make this law an effective tool in preventing unnecessary deaths of newborn citizens of the state of Florida.

A Safe Haven for Newborns is dedicated to reaching pregnant girls and mothers before they reach  the crisis stage. We assist them as they make their decision in the best interest of their baby and themselves, whether with counseling, parenting, health related issues, Adoption or confidentially placing their Newborn with a “Safe Haven”.

A Safe Haven for Newborns is saving lives with on-going, comprehensive, statewide  public awareness campaigns. 

Obviously “Safe Haven” is not the final answer to the societal problems contributing to the cause of infant abandonment but they provide a compassionate approach to saving the lives of innocent and helpless babies. This law is a positive outcome for all involved: a child’s life is saved; a mother or father is saved from a lifetime of guilt and anguish; the hopes of a family waiting to adopt a child are fulfilled.

There is an escalating crisis in the United States. Mothers are keeping their pregnancy secret, then disposing of the child after birth in dumpsters, garbage cans, ditches, fields, along lakes, canals and other hazardous places often resulting in a sure death.

 While no one can fully understand why a person would endanger a vulnerable child, two common denominators present themselves – isolation and denial. Mothers (and fathers) who abandon a newborn child often believe that they are, and in fact, they may be utterly and completely alone. Living in this isolation, they are left to wrestle with problems that they are not psychologically or emotionally equipped to handle. These desperate young mothers who in great fear and mental distress have too often chosen the frantic path of abandoning their newborn, only to face charges in the legal system. The unthinkable act of these mothers not only destroyed the lives of these babies it made them criminals. Two Lives lost unnecessarily.

The generally accepted stereotype of a person who abandons a newborn child is that of a teenage, underprivileged mother. However, our experience indicates that this is a tragedy that crosses all categories of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Therefore, affecting all of society.

The Gloria M. Silverio Foundation – “A Safe Haven for Newborns” is the primary information resource addressing the issues of Infant abandonment in Florida.

“A Safe Haven for Newborns” is dedicated to reaching pregnant girls and mothers before they reach the crisis stage.

We are the safety net, possibly the last resort for a pregnant girl or mother with her newborn at her moment of crisis, very often-facing life and death issues, two lives saved, the precious newborn and their mother. So many times, once assistance is provided a mother chooses to keep her child and we were there for her.

The lifeline of our organization is our 24/7 multilingual statewide referral helpline to assist pregnant girls and women in crisis. We provide quick, confidential one on one assistance accessing our extensive statewide referral database. We assist them as they make their decision in the best interest of their baby and themselves, whether with counseling, parenting, health related issues, adoption or confidentially placing their newborn with a “Safe Haven”.  

The Safe Haven for babies program is saving lives, as supported by the number of newborns saved from abandonment and the many pregnant girls and women assisted during their most desperate time. This is a positive outcome for all involved: A Child’s life is saved; a mother or father is saved from a lifetime of guilt, anguish and legal prosecution; the hopes of a family waiting to adopt a child are fulfilled.

All calls are confidential and everyone is helped. We are never, ever judgmental. It takes enormous compassion and a great deal of courage to seek help vs. the tragic alternative of abandonment, often resulting in an innocent newborns death.

Without “A Safe Havenfor Newborns” program, activities and our 24/7 multilingual referral helpline, many if not most, of the hundreds of precious newborns saved to date from the dangers of abandonment would not be here today. They are in loving homes with their adoptive parents reaching for the world, maybe the President of the United States, a Supreme Court Justice, a scientist finding a cure for cancer or most important, a great mom or dad to their children.

We believed from the beginning, if we saved only one life, all of our efforts would be worthwhile.