BabySafe

Securing the future of Florida’s surrendered babies

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Inspiration

One of our team members encountered these baby boxes in Poland, where they were called ‘Windows of Life’ and usually operated by Catholic religious organizations, in operation since 2006 to save abandoned children.

We were first concerned by the lack of resources surrounding baby boxes, with staff often left uneducated about the proper way to act. This led us to explore more deeply the problems mothers face that cause them to end the life of their child, and how resources for mental health counseling and physical health for mothers are often under-utilized. Then, we learned about baby boxes and the proven way they save the lives of children. The lack of centralized information inspired us to make a centralized location for mothers in need of this information quickly and efficiently.

What it does

BabySafe directly connects new mothers with guidance on surrendering their child, with a detailed and comprehensive map of all Florida locations. It provides an easy-to-navigate website for mothers who need support in locating adoption agencies, and gives the community the ability to support mothers. This support comes through donations of living necessities, volunteering, and guided training for medical staff, firefighters and adoption center workers on the right procedures on how to support a baby that was surrendered and protecting the anonymity of the mother. The website provides free mental and physical health resources for mothers in need.

How we built it

We used HTML and CSS to create the website augmented with JavaScript, with the Leaflet JavaScript library used to make our map. Appwrite was used to store databases for donation and volunteering details.

Challenges we ran into

  • Two of our members learning HTML and CSS did slow progress down
  • General struggles with UI formatting with CSS
  • Figuring out additional functionality for our website

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • The map zooms into the user’s location, allowing the user to quickly view their choices of surrendering locations
  • Mother provides information and identifies the details of the situation through simple checkmarks to allow the website to redirect to the proper resources. -Code is able to identify the closest surrendering location and provide a link to directions, allowing users to quickly navigate to a place to surrender during a situation where every day matters.
  • The map tracks the user’s location and shows the nearest agencies, allowing users to find ones that are more accessible to them
  • Mobile compatibility - important to allow all mothers to access quickly regardless of device or system
  • UI is simplistic and polished to allow for easy navigation. A logo at the bottom of the page always redirects to the home page.

What we learned

  • Using CSS and HTML to create complex forms and responsive links based on responses given
  • Implementing User-friendly UI through adding translation services and mobile compatibility

What's next for BabySafe

  • Implementing other state locations, along with different guidance resources depending on each state’s laws
  • Creating a map of all locations accepting donations, as well as what supplies are most needed in every location.

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