Katie's Korner: A message from your PYC Coordinator | |
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Partners for Young Children (PYC) is a coalition focused on improving the wellbeing of children and families in Island County.
Through PYC, Island County organizations and individuals come together to achieve the vision that all children thrive in nurturing relationships and healthy families. Together, partners are cultivating community action to strengthen Island County families.
| | As you'll recall from our November partner meeting, we would like to pull together an Island County early learning family resource 2025 impact report. All you need to do to participate is to email Katie with any of your end of your data reports for 2025. The parameters are up to you! Just send us your impact numbers and help us to tell the story of this incredible resource community. | | |
We have had a great response to our PYC membership agreements!
Check out our new member page on our website to see our amazing network of community resources!
| | Remember, it's not too late to fill out the Partners for Young Children Island County membership form and commit to our fabulous network. Don't forget to email your logo. Email Katie with any questions! | | PYC Has a Partner Blogspace!! | | |
Don't forget that PYC hosts a guest blog on our PYC website, where we encourage anyone who would like to get more visibility for their current needs to send us your stories. You can simply email to katiew@whidbeyfoundation.org and we will gladly get the word out! In the meantime, check out our existing blogs if you have not already. You can find it here.
| | November PYC Partners Shared Resources | | Have flyers, information or resources to share? Drop in our SharePoint folder! | | 2026 PYC Partner Meeting Dates Are Set! | | |
Don't forget to RSVP for the upcoming PYC partner meeting on Tuesday, February 10th from 11:30-1:00pm.
Come for these great updates and presentations:
- PYC Partner Impact Reports
- PYC Strategic Goals One-Year Check-in
- Presentations from:
~Center for Retention & Expansion of Child Care (C-RECC) Presentation by Laurie Saling & Team
~HMG Island County Quarterly Data Explained by Within Reach Coordinated Access Team
| | Sign up for our new PYC Slack Channel! You'll find it under the (also new) Whidbey Community Foundation Slack. Ask questions, share resources, and interact in real-time with other early learning partners in our community! | | Last Month's PYC Programs Report | | 2025 PYC Programs Impact Report | | Help Me Grow Island County Updates & Supports | PYC Island County Announces Newborn Outreach Bag Expansion to Whidbey Health! | |
We had such great success with our first year of the Newborn Outreach program, delivering almost 300 bags to our Island County residents giving birth at Island Health (Anacortes) and Skagit Regional (Mount Vernon) birth centers.
We are so grateful to our partners at Island County Public Health, Sno-Isle Libraries, Help Me Grow Washington and our early learning partners for their assistance and materials to keep this program going. We are also deeply indebted to Liz Cooksey (Skagit) and Teri Schilling (Island), who are the nursing staff who have been the personal connection point with our families. They have been able to report back with family feedback and referral data that has informed the evolution of our outreach. With all your help, we have been able to make more connections with our island families in those crucial first moments. Connections like food and basic needs, early literacy, child care resources and mental health assistance.
Due to this success, we are moving to the next phase of our project and met with staff at our very own Whidbey Health birth center at the end of 2025. Plans are now underway to add our local hospital to this outreach program. This will double our efforts in 2026!
Interested in contributing materials to our bag? Want to help, but worried about funding resources? Reach out to Katie for options and volunteer opportunities! We have 600 bags to fill this year and could use a "hand"!
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Remember to check your listings for any of the following!
- Program language
- Service and contact info
- Agency contact
- Changes to listing categories and maps
Katie has new Help Me Grow rack cards with all our info! Email if you'd like some to hand out to your families.
You can also encourage your families to Call Help Me Grow at 1(800) 322-2588.
As always, you may always send questions or updates directly to Katie at pyc@whidbeyfoundation.org.
Help Me Grow - Island County is a dependable and interconnected system that puts families first – making sure resources are accessible to every child and every community.
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Partners for Young Children Island County is thrilled to be able to offer this free service to our Island County families with children from birth to age 11. We are also include local messaging, sorted by zip code, on free or low-cost programs and events so you will never miss out!
Lantern tailors three to five weekly text messages to caregivers, providing evidence-based content on developmental milestones, brain growth, emotional health, nutrition, and resilience.
| | Does your organization have a community message to share with local parents? Submit your messages here and we will help get the word out! | | Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Whidbey Island | | |
Imagination Library of Whidbey Island—a local program partner of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, strives to send a new book every month to Whidbey Island children from birth to age five.
Funding Updates - We've been urged by the Imagination Library of Washington to continue advocating for the imagination library. The next advocacy period is during the WA state legislative session beginning January 12th and running until March 12th. Brooke and Scott Herrick, The Dollywood Foundation's State Relations Director have already been meeting with key legislators and early learning/K-12 leaders about significant importance of getting ILWA back into the budget for long-term program sustainability. Please continue to get the word out and keep an ear out for more important advocacy days!
Happy News! Our very own Dolly Parton Imagination Library Whidbey was chosen as a recipient of 100+ Women Who Care About Whidbey's monthly donation for October! We are very grateful for this honor and this will bring crucial funding to help sustain our local library program.
| | Katie has bookmarks and other outreach materials. Contact her here! | | Public Health Announcements | | Island County Public Health Issues Press Release on Measles Alert | | |
Yesterday, Island County Public Health issued the following press release:
On January 8, 2026, the Snohomish County Health Department (SCHD) issued an alert regarding confirmed measles cases in the region. Most importantly for our community, a potential exposure occurred on the Mukilteo-Clinton Ferry on December 30, 2025, between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
What you should do: If you traveled on the ferry during this time or visited other listed locations:
1. Check your vaccination status.
2. Monitor for symptoms.
3. Contact your healthcare provider AND Island County Public Health at (360) 678-2301. You can find our Communicable Disease contact info here: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/305/Communicable-Disease
Measles is highly contagious and can stay in the air for up to two hours. Please help us protect Island County by sharing this post widely.
Find the full list of exposure sites and health guidance in the official release here: https://www.snohd.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/902
| | Advocacy & Support Opportunities | | Think Babies Provides Action Items to Speak Up for Babies | | |
Lawmakers face another major funding deadline on January 30. If they fail to pass funding bills by then, parts of the government could shut down again, putting babies and families at risk.
Decisions are being made NOW. Members of Congress need to know that you support programs that support babies’ health, early learning, mental health and family economic security, including Head Start and Early Head Start, infant and early childhood mental health programs and health care supports. Policymakers need to hear from YOU.
A shutdown, or cuts to these programs, would be devastating for babies during the most critical years of brain development and for the families and professionals who support them every day.
Contact your members of Congress and urge them to pass funding bills before January 30 that fully fund programs babies and families need.
| | Workshops, Trainings & Events | | Northwest ESD 189 Offers Virtual Parenting Classes - One Class Remaining | | Postpartum Support International Offers Trainings for Professionals, Families & Community Supports | | |
Perinatal Mood Disorders: Components of Care
March 11-12, 2026 8:30 AM-5:00 PM PT | Virtual
Registration Deadline: February 25
This two-day course, taught by expert and engaging faculty, uses a thorough, evidence-based curriculum designed for psychiatrists, nurses, physicians, social workers, mental health providers, childbirth professionals, social support providers, and anyone interested in building skills for assessment and treatment of perinatal mood disorders. Your registration includes a training manual, handouts, and certification of continuing education credits.
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Advanced Perinatal Mental Health Psychotherapy
March 13, 2026 9:00 AM-4:30 PM PT | Virtual
Registration Deadline: February 25
This training features an evidence-based curriculum designed for mental health and psychotherapy providers who have previously completed at least fourteen hours of perinatal mental health training. This advanced training covers differential diagnosis, evidence-based psychotherapeutic approaches, and advanced therapeutic issues. It combines expert presentation with case studies, group discussion, and practical examples of treatment approaches. This course or an equivalent six-hour advanced training course is a pre-requisite for the Perinatal Mental Health Certification, in the mental health/psychotherapy specialty. Registration includes training manual and certification of continuing education.
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Advanced Perinatal Mental Health Psychopharmacology
March 13, 2026 9:00 AM-4:30 PM PT | Virtual
Registration Deadline: February 25
This training, provided by perinatal psychiatric experts, is an evidence-based training on psychiatric prescribing during pregnancy and lactation. It is designed for psychiatric prescribers who have previously completed at least fourteen hours of perinatal mental health training. This advanced training combines expert presentation with case studies, group discussion, and practical examples. It is an interactive, case-based advanced seminar, covering differential diagnosis, medication challenges, and your questions. This course is an approved prerequisite for the Perinatal Mental Health Certification in the psychopharmacology specialty. Registration includes training manual and certification of continuing education.
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Washington Families Thrive Offers Pathways to Progress Training Program | | |
Join the movement: Pathways to Progress, launched in 2025 by Washington Families Thrive, is a free monthly professional-development series that supports child care educators with resources, training, and advocacy. Shaped by local provider input, the series serves those who are new, expanding, or maintaining best practices. Most sessions are online Thursdays, 6:00–7:00 PM — all early‑childhood professionals and community members are welcome.
| | Parent to Parent Announces Winter Event Lineup | | Family & Caregiver Supports | | Upcoming Local Family Events | | Upcoming Sno-Isle Family Events | | Storytimes & Family Fun at Oak Harbor Library! | | Storytimes & Family Fun at Coupeville Library! | | Storytimes for our south end libraries! | | Click below for even more family friendly events! | | Do you have updates or resources you'd like to share with the broader network? | | |
In the Arena With Now
Know Your Power: Camille Bennett on Coalition Building, Advocacy and Partnership
In our final episode of the season, we return to Vital Village Networks’ 10th annual National Community Leadership Summit and tune into the dynamic closing keynote conversation with Camille Bennett, Founder and Executive Director of Project Say Something. Connecting the personal and political, Camille speaks to her and her family’s multi-generational work advocating for racial justice in Alabama. She shares the efforts that she and coalitions are leading to dismantle white supremacist culture and fight against anti-Black policies, lifting up how grassroots efforts are seeking to promote education and reproductive justice. She explores what partnership with community looks like in policy and advocacy, and the need to affirm and elevate community power.
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Questions? Contact us at PYC@whidbeyfoundation.org
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