PEPS History
Our History: Successfully Supporting Parents for More than Three Decades
In 1982, a group of early childhood educators and social service professionals from public and private agencies in King County, WA, saw a need for a program that would bring new parents together, in their communities, during the critical first few months of parenting when feelings of isolation and inadequacy mix with the joy of welcoming a new baby.
These collaborative visionaries used their knowledge, expertise and research to design a preventative model of support and education for new parents.
This work started during an exciting time for changes to thinking about childbirth, evidenced by the popularity of Lamaze classes sweeping the country and parents taking a more active role in the birth process. Yet there was little support for new families after the baby was born.
Lisa Allen vividly remembers preparing for the birth of her first daughter at that time in Seattle. Her childbirth class met only once after the babies were born, and then parents were on their own. She remembers thinking, “It’s not supposed to be like this.” A few years later, Lisa became one of the first group leaders at PEPS.
PEPS launched three neighborhood groups in 1983 and was quickly embraced by the community as a unique and incredibly valuable family resource.
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