The Happy Hometown Marriage Education Kit is a five year program that begins with one person and ends with Marriage Education becoming an integral part of local budgets and staff job descriptions. It provides a simple step-by-step structure for making marriage education a part of small town culture.
The Happy Hometown Marriage Education Kit is specifically aimed for communities with a population of 50,000 or less. It begins with descriptions of small town culture and their influence on Marriage Education. It then provides resources and a structure for moving your hometown to a town that strengthens home. This structure includes strategies and information about resources to:
- Awareness activities to get started
- Warm-up activities to get community leaders on board
- Expansion projects to develop a solid community base
- Skills programs to provide solid changes in couples lives
- Ongoing supports for couples with particular needs
- Strategies for helping communities make long term commitments to marriage education
- Leadership development to make all your work last
Generally, the goal is to connect existing people, organizations, and interests with marriage strengthening resources so that marriage education becomes a part of the culture.
The Happy Hometown Marriage Education Kit was given away at the 2009 Smart Marriages Conference in Orlando. It may be purchased from I-Ky for $15. To order one, contact admin@skillswork.org.
From the Happy Hometown Marriage Education Kit comes the Happy Hometown Model:
Happy Hometown Model
Marriage and Family Focus:
- Vision—Images of strong, committed marriages and families
- Skills—Teaching emotional and relationship skills
- Support—Communities who celebrate and shore up caring families
- Leadership—Identification and development of leaders
Tasks to Make Marriage and Family Strengthening a Part of Everyday Culture:
A-Awareness—Presentations, media, and word-of-mouth
E-Events—Activities
I: Information—Research information; quality skills training
O-Organization—Who provides what, when, where, and how
U-Understanding—Match programs with perceived needs and values
Promising Sources of Sustainable Funding
- Affordable fee for service, combined with marketing to make a relationship class as attractive as dinner out or a week-end away
- Line item in church or agency budgets
- Line item in job descriptions of people who are already paid
- Relationship Education wherever education occurs (schools, churches, community ed)
- A structure that combines a very few paid administrators with a small number of highly committed, well trained volunteers and a large number of transitory volunteers (like Girl Scouts) with an in-house source of funding for those administrators (like Girl Scout cookies).
- Local public funding (United Way, local fundraising events)
- Like Parenting Education, a possible component in many state or federal grants
- Private Foundation funding for special projects
- 1% or other designated federal funding
- EAP, Wellness, CE, staff development, and Insurance Programs
Work on developing these strategies in your community!
Sign up to be part of the Heart of America Leadership Institute
More information: call Mary Ortwein at 502-227-0055
IDEALS of Kentucky
813 Hillwood Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
NEW FAX 502-226-7088