History
PEPS was conceived in 1982 by a group of community volunteers concerned about the availability of support for new parents in the King County area. Sandra Wallace, who would later serve as PEPS Newborn Program Manager for many years, sat on the Children’s Hospital task force for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. She encouraged a model similar to one she had experienced in Eugene, Oregon. Rather than creating an intervention program that served only "high risk" families, the PEPS founders believed in the importance of support for all types of families in the community. Parenting is challenging for everyone! In 1983 PEPS was incorporated and hired its first employee, Mary Ellen O'Keefe, a part-time coordinator.
Our low-cost, high-impact approach of peer support, utilizing volunteer facilitators, and meeting in participant homes was devised. PEPS began spreading the word about its unique PEPS Group approach to new parents through hospitals and doctor's offices. The value of the PEPS approach was quickly recognized and the program continued to grow year to year. Since 1983, thousands of families have been a part of the PEPS community; hundreds of PEPS Groups continue to meet for years beyond the formal program sessions.
From the very first Board meeting, PEPS has wanted to serve all types of parents. Over the years, PEPS has developed and tested programs for many types of parents: teens, homeless; recent immigrants, and Spanish speaking families. In recent years, PEPS has focused on its original core newborn program, then added Baby Peppers and Little Peppers to broaden the age ranges we serve. All programs welcome all diverse types of families. All propgrams use our tried-and-true format of sharing the joys and challenges of parenting and discussing topics of interest to parents, with the emphasis on mutual support and shared information.
Today, PEPS serves over 1,900 families each year helping them connect to other parents, share the ups and downs of their parenting adventure and develop the skills they need to be effective and nurturing parents.
