Celebrating the Spirit of PEPS

The Spirit of PEPS Award was created in 2011 in acknowledgment of outgoing Board member and volunteer, Cliff Meyer, and has been given out annually to those who go above and beyond in giving back to the PEPS community.

PEPS is pleased to present the 2024 Spirit of PEPS Award to:

CINDY PURIFOY GOETZMANN

Cindy with her PEPS family celebrating the high school graduation of their oldest children. (Cindy pictured standing next to her three sons)

Cindy grew up and lived around the world, leading a nomadic life until moving to the Seattle area in 2000. She practiced law in California and Washington before "retiring" from the law and moving to Mercer Island in 2007 with her husband, Gordon, and 3 children.  Since then, Cindy has served on various boards, including that of the Mercer Island Schools Foundation, West Mercer PTA, Northwood PTA, and Eastside Prep PA. She has also volunteered at various organizations across Puget Sound, including the Boys and Girls Club, Northwest Harvest, and PEPS. She is currently President of the Board of the Mercer Island Youth and Family Services Foundation.

Cindy was nominated for the SOPA award by a Second Time Around participant in Cindy's group. They shared that "Cindy created such a welcoming, open, relaxed, and safe space that by the end of the first meeting we were pouring our hearts out and sharing deeply personal experiences. This sort of support is nearly impossible to come by and made me feel like I really had a crew I could depend on during this exciting but difficult time. Nothing feels off-limits, even if different parents in the groups have different experiences or opinions. Thanks Cindy! I feel so empowered!"

In addition to the Spirit of PEPS Award for Volunteers, PEPS is pleased to award Group Leaders with Recognition Awards in acknowledgment of their contribution, service, and commitment to PEPS.

The 2024 Leader Recognition Awards go to: 

Deborah Rifkin

Deborah with her daughter at high school graduation.

Deborah Rifkin, she/her, is a certified birth doula, Gottman Educator and PCI® Parent Coach. She has had a private practice since 2007. She has worked with pregnant women and parents for over 15 years, participated in the birth of over 100 babies and facilitated parent groups for over 20 years. As a parent coach she feels strongly about helping parents be their best selves and parenting well. She helps each family discover for themselves what works and then to put that into practice. She works with parents from many different educational and socio-economic backgrounds and knows parenting can be extremely challenging under the best of circumstances but when we show up and are present for ourselves and our children, everyone thrives. 

Since 2000, Deborah has been an integral part of the PEPS community leading Newborn, Second Time Around, Working Moms,Expectant Parents and Parents of Adolescents and Teens (PAT) Groups. She has led over 40 groups and her support of families is always deeply felt. A participant from one of Deborah’s Connecting the Expecting groups put it this way: “Deborah created the most dynamic meetings through a remote format, she provided valuable insight in a fun and enjoyable environment. Deborah is really a star facilitator for PEPS and should train all other facilitators.”

Outside of PEPS, Deborah lives in Shoreline with her husband. She has two children. Deborah enjoys long walks, reading, puzzles and board games, cooking, water sports and traveling.