empoweredfamily.org

In June, 2009 and 2010, CEF presented at the African American Healthy Marriages Initiative's Conference in Chapel Hill and Hampton University, respectively.  We highlighted the importance of healthy marriages in African American Communities, the disparity of mental health services in those communities, and ways and benefits to young adults in selecting healthy partners.  We at CEF are proud of our teen representative and journalist apprentice, Miss Briauna Holmes, who covered the Teen Forums and interviewed The Three Doctors at AAHMI's Hampton University Conference.  Her article may be found online in AAHMI's 2010 Newsletter.

We continue to educate and encourage healthy marriage and family relationships for the empowerment of communities and for the security and happiness of our children.

For Couples

We offer marriage education classes and training programs that work in association with partnering churches and community-based organizations throughout San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, and the Inland Empire.

Married couples are instructed, trained, and given the tools necessary to develop and sustain healthy marriages, families and communities.

Couples learn:

Communication:

How to have win/win communications
How to communicate with love and respect

Conflict resolution:

How to forgive
How to argue with respect

Money management:

Whose money is it anyway?

Intimacy:

How to put passion back in your marriage
Leaving a positive marriage legacy, and so much more!
Couples recognize that although they love each other, they admit that they didn't have the tools necessary to turn things around. Now they do!

The testimonies of couples completing this certificate program are amazing.

"I will extend myself more when considering my husband's needs.  I have learned skills to empathize with my husband that endear him to me more."
-E. Taylor

"Our communication was horrible, so getting the skills to effectively communicate to each other has blessed our marriage."
-A. Teems

"The class truly helped me to change my behavior towards my spouse."
-S. Black

"...Finally, preliminary research shows that marriage education workshops can make a real difference in helping married couples stay together and in encouraging unmarried couples who are living together to form a more lasting bond.  Expanding access to such services to low income couples, perhaps in concert with job training and placement, medical coverage, and other services already available, should be something everybody can agree on..."

Barack Obama, Audacity of Hope, 2006, p.334

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant: 90FE0015.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.