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Bluegrass Healthy Marriage Initiative builds
strong relationships
By
Carol L. Spence
LEXINGTON, Ky., (Jan. 9, 2008) – There’s no required reading or
test to be passed when two people decide to build a life
together. Yet, according to Erik Carlton, project director of
the University of Kentucky’s Bluegrass Healthy Marriage
Initiative, one of the most significant decisions people make is
whom they are going to marry, and if that decision isn’t made
well, the relationship may not have much chance of lasting very
long.
The UK initiative is part of the School of Human Environmental
Sciences Department of Family Studies. Its staff works with
community partners in an eight-county service area in the
Bluegrass to help couples build healthy and lasting
relationships.
“It’s about learning skills that help you connect in very deep
and intimate ways, and that’s what we’re about,” Carlton said.
The program is in its second year of a five-year grant from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has been
channeling funds into healthy marriage initiatives across the
country. Carlton said the federal department’s intent is to
lower out of wedlock births and divorce rates.
“According to one recent study, divorce costs the state of
Kentucky roughly $700 million a year, because of things such as
legal fees, low productivity or absenteeism at work, its impact
on health, and child support that goes toward supporting a
second home rather than being conserved within one
relationship,” he said. “Anytime somebody gets divorced the
employer can count on losing about $10,000, minimum.”
The initiative does not promote marriage simply for the sake of
marriage.
“We’re here to say, if you’re going to get married, let’s do it
in a smart way so you can have a healthy relationship,” he said.
The program primarily targets young adults, new or expectant
parents, whether married or unmarried, newlyweds and engaged
couples. Carlton said these groups comprised the primary
audience because of the transitions they are experiencing and
the opportunity to them when they’re not set into a
relationship, though he emphasized anyone of any age can benefit
from the classes.
“In all honesty, the skills taught in the classes apply to all
sorts of relationships,” he said. “It could be your best friend,
your sister, co-worker. We take a relationship/marriage sort of
approach, but you can be single and come to the classes.”
In 2008, the initiative is planning to offer monthly classes
throughout its service area, which includes Fayette, Jessamine,
Woodford, Scott, Bourbon, Clark, Madison, and Franklin counties.
For those interested in taking a class, Carlton said the best
way was to find one offered through one of the initiative’s many
community partners. Classes are listed on the event calendar
posted at the Bluegrass Healthy Marriage Initiative’s Web site,
http://www.bluegrassmarriage.org.
He said much of the staff’s effort is dedicated to developing a
coalition of organizations that host classes and offer other
types of support. The coalition is made up of an assortment of
agencies and businesses, including public health and social
service agencies, schools, hospitals, churches and private
businesses. They are also actively seeking more partners.
“Any organization, school, business, church, health care
facility, whatever, who’d be interested in either partnering
with us to provide these services or having information readily
available for their clientele or their people should give us a
call,” Carlton said.
Carlton and the Bluegrass Healthy Marriage Initiative staff are
also looking toward the future.
“We realize that our grant is not going to be around forever.
We’re going to apply for more funding, but in case that doesn’t
happen we wanted to make sure there was capacity in the
community to keep these services going,” he said.
With that goal in mind, the initiative is offering its first
Central Kentucky Marriage Conference in cooperation with
Bluegrass Healthy Marriages Partnership, a separate nonprofit
organization in Lexington, with which the initiative
collaborates. The conference, which will be held on February 8
and 9 at the Embassy Suites in Lexington, will offer training
and certification in various relationship education approaches,
as well as networking opportunities for professionals in the
field.
Nationally and world-renowned facilitators in relationship
counseling will conduct workshops sessions during the main
conference, including Steven Stosny, author of “Love Without
Hurt,” Mary Ortwein, creator of Mastering the Magic of Love
program, and Rozario Slack and Nisa Muhammed, who will be
offering Basic Training for Couples, also known as the Black
Marriage Education Curriculum. Professionals will be eligible to
receive continuing education units for attending.
Registration materials for the conference can be found on the
initiative’s Web site,
http://www.bluegrassmarriage.org
or by calling 859-257-5527. Deadline for registration is
February 1. Conference fee is $100 for both days and $25 for the
preconference workshop. The fee includes breakfast and lunch. A
special rate is available at the Embassy Suites for those who
wish to stay overnight.
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Contact: Erik Carlton, 859-257-7734
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The UK College of Agriculture,
through its land-grant mission, reaches across the commonwealth
with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of
Kentuckians. |
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