PEPS Created a Lifeline
Hi! I am Marloes Koning and I live in Sammamish with my husband Remco, our boy/girl twins Kai and Noa, dog Sidney and cat Hunter. My husband and I moved to Seattle from The Netherlands in 2006 and when I had my twins in 2010 there was no family around to help out. Friends suggested I signed up for a PEPS group which I did. It was a wonderful experience meeting other moms that lived close to me. As the only twin mom in the group I received a lot of support and we kept meeting on a regular basis long after our group was over.
I had also joined the Seattle Families of Multiples (SFOM) for more specific twin related support and when I heard that they had partnered with PEPS to offer PEPS groups for parents with multiples (called PEMS groups, Program for Early Multiples Support), I immediately signed up to facilitate a group. I loved seeing the parents get more confident every week and build deep friendships with the other families in the group. I ended up facilitating two more groups before we moved from Ballard to Sammamish in 2013.
Even though I loved facilitating these groups, I was looking for volunteer opportunities within SFOM that didn’t involve driving to Seattle, so I took on the role of PEMS Group Coordinator. Families expecting multiples who were interested in a PEMS group would contact me and I would make sure they got placed in a group and also provide them with lots of twin-related information and resources.
I’m still doing this role and enjoy helping these parents find their way in “multiples land” but last year I realized I was really missing the face-to-face contact, so I signed up to facilitate two newborn daytime PEPS groups in the Sammamish/Issaquah area. I enjoyed it so much that I made a promise with myself to facilitate at least one PEPS group a year.
Inspired by this Story?
Volunteers are an extraordinary part of PEPS - mothers & fathers deeply rooted in the PEPS community and passionate about supporting new parents.
Share Your Story
Inspire others parents by sharing your story with PEPS!
About the Author
I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to volunteer with PEPS and SFOM, because in working with all these families over the last couple of years and seeing how a little support, connection and community can help them thrive, I realized that I wanted more. I wanted to support families with a newborn one-on-one, for a longer time, in the comfort of their home. I wanted to be a postpartum doula! So I took the training, got certified and have been serving families on the eastside ever since. You can find me here: www.nurturingthenewmom.com
Comments