While moving from West Seattle to Tacoma in the summer of 2021 was a relatively small geographical shift, it felt like an enormous exodus from the tight-knit community my husband and I had cultivated over our nine years as Seattleites. Part of that community we were leaving was the PEPS Group we joined in December 2020 after welcoming our first child, Nora.
Like so many Seattle families, we benefited from the PEPS 12-week Newborn Group, which brought together seven neighborhood families with babies born within six weeks of one another. During that uncertain pandemic winter, we gathered on Zoom to share the highs and lows of early parenting.
We shared openly about everything from sleep challenges (we had many!) and birth traumas to breastfeeding woes and the relationship changes that are so common in that first year of becoming parents. We shared deeply about the experiences that led us to parenthood, as well as the reality of entering parenthood during a global pandemic.
Once vaccines and warmer weather made it safer to gather in person, we began taking walks through local parks, carrying our babies in Solly wraps and Ergobaby carriers, many of us anxiously checking that they were still breathing while bundled up. This group felt like a lifeline for many of us during an otherwise unprecedented time – both due to the pandemic and new parenthood.
When my husband and I moved to Tacoma, I opened a private practice as a trauma and perinatal mental health therapist, seeing clients virtually. My husband was on sabbatical as a math professor, watching our daughter during the day. Without daycare or a regular office routine, we felt especially isolated. We missed the connection of our PEPS Group – the afternoon walks and easy conversations on the playground.
Ever the networker, I tried to spark conversations with other moms at the playground, smiled at everyone with a stroller, and generally found myself acting a bit like a fool trying to make new parent friends. While folks were friendly, these friendships didn't quite take off the way I'd hoped.
Knowing we hoped to have a second child, I emailed PEPS to ask about expanding to Tacoma – and I later learned I was one of many who had done the same. At the time, PEPS replied that they had been planning to initiate services and partnerships in Pierce County before the pandemic, but shifted gears to focus on responding to pandemic-related needs. This made sense, but I still longed for the connection of my old PEPS Group.
Last summer, when PEPS shared the news that they would offer groups in Pierce County, I was ecstatic! The first Tacoma Groups launched last fall – two evening Newborn Groups and one daytime Little Peppers Group for babies between 5 and 12 months old. The response was immediate; the need was clear, and all three filled up.
In a recent conversation with Polly Jirkovsky, the PEPS Partnership Manager who is helping with expanding programs into Pierce County, spoke to the importance of understanding the organizations and groups already established and serving the Tacoma community. PEPS wants to ensure its services won't compete with or duplicate existing services and is seeking ways to partner with existing organizations to further serve the community. Current Pierce County partners include Greentrike and Open Arms Perinatal Services.
Since 2019, Polly has connected with local leaders and organizations to understand the need, and while parent support does exist in Tacoma, there hadn’t been programs that connected families with one another to have discussions and learn with – and from – one another. After a series of starts and stops, a global pandemic, and significant needs assessments, PEPS was ready to experiment with offering a few groups. Polly shared that every Group Leader she's connected with has said the groups were a success – parents found the type of connection they were seeking. I can echo that: after being invited to join a Newborn Group as a guest speaker last fall, I witnessed the heartwarming scene of eight little babies rolling around on the floor as their parents connected and shared about their experiences with postpartum mental health.
PEPS continues to offer groups for families at various sites across Tacoma, including a drop-in group for military families in partnership with Greentrike at the Children’s Museum at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Forever grateful for the connections forged during the early newborn phase, I'll continue to be a PEPS Ambassador and help spread the word about PEPS to every new parent I encounter – whether at a local coffee shop, my favorite bookstore, or with my own clients.
If you or a friend is interested in joining a PEPS Group or getting more information, visit https://peps.org/programs.
If you know of a Pierce County organization that would be a great PEPS partner, email programs@peps.org.
Katie Price (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a speciality in trauma therapy and perinatal mental health. As a clinician, mother, and friend, Katie is focused on breaking generational cycles and create loving, connected families and communities. A Pacific Northwest native, Katie is an avid runner, baker, and outdoor enthusiast.