Throughout my study of marriage and families at BYU, I have become passionate helping individuals create stronger marriages. I have learned that each state has something called a Healthy Marriage Initiative (HMI) which sounds fancy but it simply means what each state is doing to help its citizens have better, stronger marriages. There are a few states that are doing quite well with their HMI, but sadly Utah is not doing so hot. The resource (yes, resource. Singular as in just one) they provide is a website entitled strongermarriages.org. It offers many different resources on things such as finances, preparation for parenthood, general tips for improving your marriage and a listing of couple relationship education retreats in your area. I was quite impressed with all that this website is doing. But unfortunately, if I wasn't currently studying Family Life I would be unaware that such a website existed. In an attempt to remedy this, I emailed the coordinator over the Stronger Marriages website. I suggested to the coordinator, Melanie Reese, that small brochures or business cards be placed in strategic location so that engaged couples can be made aware of these resources. Strongermarriages.org isn't doing a bad job at publicizing their website, in fact they have recently come out with four TV spots that tell people about their website. But in this situation, I believe more is better. The more publicized their services become, the more likely that couples will turn to Utah's own HMI for help with their marriage.
P.S. If you think I've abandoned the political route, think again. I have also emailed a Utah County Commissioner and the County Clerk to see how Utah is implementing the HMI. I hope that by working with both strongermarriages.org and our own government officials we will be able to combine forces and create a stronger coalition to support healthy marriages.
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