Open Arms Perinatal Services

Our Family Support Services (FSS) team hosts resource roundtables where families can connect with local community organizations and learn about resources across King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.

In May, our FSS team hosted a resource roundtable and shared budget-friendly family activities in the Greater Seattle Area. The activities include museums, zoos, aquariums, outdoor spaces, & more! Click here to check out these resources on our website: bit.ly/OAPSfamilyactivities. To be notified about upcoming resource roundtables, subscribe to our newsletter here: openarmsps.org/newsletter/.

Nuestro equipo de Servicios de Apoyo Familiar (FSS) organiza reuniónes de recursos, donde las familias pueden conectar con organizaciones comunitarias locales y conocer los recursos disponibles en los condados de King, Pierce y Snohomish.

En mayo, nuestro equipo de FSS organizó una de estas reuniónes y compartió ideas de actividades familiares económicas en el área metropolitana de Seattle. ¡Entre las opciones se incluyen museos, zoológicos, acuarios, espacios al aire libre y mucho más! Haz clic aquí para ver estos recursos en nuestro sitio web: bit.ly/OAPSfamilyactivities. Para recibir notificaciones sobre futuras reuniónes de recursos, suscríbete a nuestro boletín informativo aquí: openarmsps.org/newsletter/.

Thank you to all fathers and all those who father. We recognize the love and care you pour into your children.

We love partnering with groups like PEPS for Parents to offer spaces for fathers to connect as well as referring to groups who support fathers on their parenting journey like BLKBRY, LLC's Fatherhood is a Verb Program.

We are dedicated to continued support for fathers. Happy Father's Day!

Happy Juneteenth!

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all enslaved people in the Confederate States in the United States legally free. Yet, in areas like Texas that were still under Confederate control, the Proclamation was not implemented and enslaved people did not gain their freedom until later. On June 19, 1885, about 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas and announced that all 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were free. The next year in 1866, the newly freed people celebrated their liberation on June 19, which became an annual celebration known as "Juneteenth."

On June 19, we remember that our country is built on the labor of people who were enslaved, kidnapped and brought to the U.S. from the African continent and recognize the continued contributions of their survivors. We celebrate the emancipation of enslaved African people and recognize the lasting impacts of American slavery on African American communities in our country.

Today is a day of celebration, liberation, and reflection of how we all can better care for Black communities. 🫂

While our in-person lactation lounge is temporarily paused due to our World Cup closure, we invite you to join us online for free lactation support with our IBCLC lactation counselor, Shevonne! Habra apoyo en español disponible durante estas salas de lactancia.

Lactation support will be available on Zoom on June 18th, 25th, and July 2nd from 10 AM to 12 PM.

To join the Zoom meeting, click here: bit.ly/ZoomThursLounge.

Thank you to Amazon and their employees who poured their time, care, and generosity into creating newborn kits for the families we serve. These kits provide essentials for newborn health and comfort.

Open Arms partnered with Amazon to create kits to support birthing families during the beautiful and often overwhelming experience of welcoming a newborn.

We greatly appreciate the Amazon volunteers who thoughtfully created these kits. Thanks to contributions like this, we’re able to provide new parents with the added support and resources to thrive.💜

We’re hiring! We’re happy to announce that we’re looking to fill 3 open positions at Open Arms.

We’re looking for an Office Coordinator who enjoys greeting and interacting with others and is passionate about upkeeping a facility that is welcoming and safe for our staff, client families, and visitors. Flexibility and multitasking are extremely important for this role that is central to a busy work environment. The Office Coordinator will need to be in the office Monday through Fridays with a consistent schedule during 9am – 5pm and needs to be fluent in Spanish and English.

Also, we’re seeking a full-time Communications & Advocacy Lead who is inspired by Open Arms’ mission and passionate about birth justice and the important need to address racial and economic health disparities surrounding maternal and infant health. The ideal candidate has a well-developed equity lens, is an exceptionally skilled writer who brings creativity and vision to their work, and is highly organized for daily task management.

Finally, we’re looking for a full-time Intake Coordinator & Family Connector who has strong interpersonal skills who is comfortable interacting with families and can easily navigate change and shifting priorities. This hybrid role conducts intake interviews with families seeking services and supports them with resource navigation. Combing these roles helps scale our Family Connector team and provides coverage for the Intake team.

Learn more and apply here: https://openarmsps.org/get-involved/careers-volunteering.

This week, we bid farewell to our practicum students. In 2025-2026, we had 5 social work students join our practicum program. Since 2011, Open Arms has welcomed undergraduate and graduate students to expand their professional skills and gain insight into community-based services.

These students gain professional, hands-on experience in birth justice and non-profit work. We are sincerely grateful for these students’ curiosity, hard work, and positivity. They brought various perspectives and backgrounds, which contributed to their incredible impact on the Open Arms community. We are so excited to see how they continue to blossom into intentional and reflective social workers. We’ll miss you!

Dear Community 💖

Due to anticipated World Cup impacts on travel and safety, we will be pausing in-person activities from June 15 to July 6, including the baby boutique. During this time, we will not be accepting donations and will be closed to visitors and walk-ins. The Baby Boutique will be closed on June 18, June 25, and July 2. Full in-person office operations will resume on Tuesday, July 7. The baby boutique will reopen on Thursday, July 9. Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions. Thank you for your understanding and support!

With love,
Open Arms 💟

Open Arms and PEPS for Parents are excited to offer an upcoming group for Seattle area Black families to find community and connection. Join other Black families who are also navigating early childhood parenting on Fridays from 11am to 1pm, from June 5 to August 7. This peer-to-peer support group will primarily meet virtually, with opportunity for several in-person meetups at El Centro de la Raza in Seattle. If you’re hoping to connect with other Black families, register here: https://bit.ly/OpenArmsPEPS.