{"id":108574,"date":"2026-02-25T08:06:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T16:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?p=108574"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T17:44:52","slug":"a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/","title":{"rendered":"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seattle\u2019s Child is proud to partner with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcyf.wa.gov\/services\/child-development-supports\/sfwa\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening Families Washington<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to honor outstanding caregivers doing important work on behalf of children. Throughout February, we\u2019ll introduce you to Unsung Heroes from around the state. Enjoy their stories.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h4><strong>E Renae Antalan, Olympia<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">E Renae Antalan exemplifies the very definition of an Unsung Hero. A devoted mother, wife, drill sergeant and combat veteran, she has spent her life in service \u2014 to her country, her family and her community.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her strength and compassion were tested in the most profound way when she took custody of her infant grandchildren, both born suffering from drug withdrawal. At a time when many would have felt overwhelmed, E Renae\u201b stepped forward without hesitation. She nursed them through the painful early stages of recovery, providing round-the-clock care, stability and unconditional love. Through her dedication, both children are now healthy, thriving and surrounded by the safety and nurturing environment she fought to create.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">E Renae\u2019s commitment to children and families extends far beyond her home. She serves on multiple boards and brings her lived experience, discipline and empathy into every space she enters. As a previous co-chair and chair of the State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC), a 23-member, governor-appointed council, she played a critical leadership role in shaping statewide early learning and family support systems. Her voice is respected, her guidance is trusted and her advocacy consistently centers the needs of the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">E Renae embodies resilience, protective caregiving and community leadership. She models what it means to show up with courage, humility and heart. Her service has transformed the lives of her grandchildren and strengthened the systems that support families across Washington. For these reasons, she is profoundly deserving of recognition as a DCYF Unsung Hero.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 <\/span><em>Will Moncrease Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><i>NOTE:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Seattle\u2019s Child is running these stories unedited, as written by the people who nominated them, in keeping with the DCYF Unsung Hero process.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b>More Unsung Heroes:<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/foster-mom-has-helped-100-kids-to-thrive-meaghan-flowers-unsung-hero\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foster mom has helped 100+ kids to thrive<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/grandmas-strength-selflessness-have-changed-two-lives-angela-schmidt-unsung-hero\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grandma&#8217;s strength, selflessness have changed two lives<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?p=108424&amp;preview=true\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kim LaMarche is a dedicated, devoted caregiver<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>E Renae Antalan shows up for her family and others with courage, humility and heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1145,"featured_media":108577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2026 Unsung Heroes: Celebrating caregivers in Washington state<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Throughout February, we\u2019ve been introducing you to Unsung Heroes. This Olympia woman serves her country, family and community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Throughout February, we\u2019ve been introducing you to Unsung Heroes. This Olympia woman serves her country, family and community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seattle&#039;s Child\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T16:06:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-25T17:44:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"316\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"231\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seattle&#039;s Child Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SeaChildMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SeaChildMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seattle&#039;s Child Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seattle's Child Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26ac207c39d8346029550d313f6a29ad\"},\"headline\":\"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-25T16:06:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-25T17:44:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\"},\"wordCount\":361,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\",\"name\":\"2026 Unsung Heroes: Celebrating caregivers in Washington state\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-25T16:06:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-25T17:44:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Throughout February, we\u2019ve been introducing you to Unsung Heroes. This Olympia woman serves her country, family and community.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg\",\"width\":316,\"height\":231},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/\",\"name\":\"Seattle&#039;s Child\",\"description\":\"Activities and Resources for Parents and Kids in greater Seattle\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Seattle's Child\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg\",\"width\":455,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Seattle's Child\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/SeaChildMag\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/seattleschildmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/seattleschild\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26ac207c39d8346029550d313f6a29ad\",\"name\":\"Seattle's Child Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c8b5afb902c6d98aabea56b3ce4add4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c8b5afb902c6d98aabea56b3ce4add4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Seattle's Child Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/author\/scstaff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2026 Unsung Heroes: Celebrating caregivers in Washington state","description":"Throughout February, we\u2019ve been introducing you to Unsung Heroes. This Olympia woman serves her country, family and community.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero","og_description":"Throughout February, we\u2019ve been introducing you to Unsung Heroes. This Olympia woman serves her country, family and community.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/","og_site_name":"Seattle&#039;s Child","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-25T16:06:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-25T17:44:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":316,"height":231,"url":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Seattle's Child Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SeaChildMag","twitter_site":"@SeaChildMag","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Seattle's Child Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/"},"author":{"name":"Seattle's Child Staff","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26ac207c39d8346029550d313f6a29ad"},"headline":"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero","datePublished":"2026-02-25T16:06:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-25T17:44:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/"},"wordCount":361,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg","articleSection":["Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/","name":"2026 Unsung Heroes: Celebrating caregivers in Washington state","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-25T16:06:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-25T17:44:52+00:00","description":"Throughout February, we\u2019ve been introducing you to Unsung Heroes. This Olympia woman serves her country, family and community.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Antalan-E-Renae-e1771200969288.jpg","width":316,"height":231},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/a-passionate-caregiver-and-community-advocate-unsung-hero-renae-antalan\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A passionate caregiver and community advocate | Unsung Hero"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/","name":"Seattle&#039;s Child","description":"Activities and Resources for Parents and Kids in greater Seattle","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization","name":"Seattle's Child","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg","width":455,"height":64,"caption":"Seattle's Child"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/","https:\/\/x.com\/SeaChildMag","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/seattleschildmag\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/seattleschild\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26ac207c39d8346029550d313f6a29ad","name":"Seattle's Child Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c8b5afb902c6d98aabea56b3ce4add4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c8b5afb902c6d98aabea56b3ce4add4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Seattle's Child Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/author\/scstaff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108578,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108574\/revisions\/108578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}