The Healthy Marriage Initiative

Tracee, a fellow b5′er, shared something on her personal blog that I’m just getting around to mentioning. She and her husband are participating in one of several locally run, federally funded marriage education course. In her words: “I’m profoundly grateful that America is putting some money behind the words ‘Family Values.’”

We Vow Now, sponsored by The Longview Wellness Center in Longview, Texas, describes itself this way:

The Longview Wellness Center’s – VOW Healthy Marriage Education Initiative is specifically designed to help build strong marriages. VOW is an innovative and interactive program designed to help young adult single persons and couples access information that will enable them to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to foster and sustain healthy marriages.

More on the federal mandate behind the grants is available from the Administration for Children & Families website. Interestingly, funding for the grants was made available as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, a natural and obvious place to look for marriage education funding.