Parent to Parent Matters: Recognizing Jen DeShon and the Power of Family Support
Parent to Parent Matters
At the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center, we want to take a moment to recognize Jen DeShon, our Parent to Parent Coordinator, and truly, what a force she is.
Jen’s work through Washington’s Parent to Parent program supports families raising children with developmental disabilities and special health care needs. For many families, navigating services, school systems, appointments, resources, and advocacy can feel overwhelming and isolating. Parent to Parent helps change that.
Through this program, Jen walks alongside families with something that cannot be replaced by a pamphlet, a website, or a referral list: lived experience, trusted guidance, emotional support, and real connection. Recently, Jen was quoted in several news outlets about the importance of Parent to Parent, especially here in San Juan County:
“San Juan County is a rural, isolated community with very limited existing resources. 2026 is the first year that we have had members of our community reach out to our program asking us how they can help support the P2P Program. This is amazing because we are building trusting relationships, raising awareness of the services we provide, and becoming more established in the community. Taking this program away from our families now would be devastating.”
Now, funding for Washington’s Parent to Parent program is at risk.
This program is the only one of its kind in the state, serving families across Washington, including right here in our island community. For families navigating complex systems, stressful decisions, and moments that can feel deeply uncertain, Parent to Parent provides support before crisis hits. It helps families feel less alone, more informed, and more connected to the services and people who can help.
The impact of this program has not gone unnoticed. Parents, advocates, community partners, news outlets, and more than 40 bipartisan Washington legislators have spoken up with the same message:
Protect Parent to Parent. Support families. Keep this essential program alive.
In a letter to Governor Bob Ferguson and the Department of Social and Health Services, legislators urged the state to preserve funding for the program, noting that Parent to Parent provides something government alone cannot easily replicate: experienced parents helping other parents through the often overwhelming journey of raising a child with developmental disabilities or special health care needs.
That is exactly what makes this program so powerful.
Parent to Parent strengthens families by offering guidance, encouragement, and connection from people who understand the journey firsthand. It helps caregivers become stronger advocates for their children, connects families with community resources, and provides meaningful peer support during some of the most important and challenging moments in a family’s life.
Here in San Juan County, where rural and island geography can make access to services even more difficult, that kind of support is essential.
Jen’s work is a powerful reminder of what advocacy looks like in action: steady, compassionate, determined, and rooted in community. She has helped build trust, raise awareness, and create a stronger network of support for families who deserve to know they are not alone.
We are grateful for Jen, for every family who has shared their story, and for everyone helping carry this message forward.