Project Goals

Northwest Arkansas is a community in need of a healthy marriage initiative. It is a community in transition experiencing many unique challenges associated with rapid growth, rapid shifts in racial/ethnic populations and persistent poverty. In spite of the concentration of industry and a strong base of financial assets, marriages and families in our region are hurting.

The overarching goal of NWA Healthy Marriages is to help men and women who choose to marry to obtain the knowledge and skills that will increase their ability to build and sustain healthy, satisfying and lifelong marriages.

Over the next 5 years we will work to engage, equip and empower over 13,000 couples in six NWA counties to build and sustain healthy, satisfying and lifelong marriages.

NWA Healthy Marriages will be delivered through voluntary activities by working with local churches, ministries, non-profit organizations, businesses and community service agencies to provide low-cost training to couples as well as training educator (Marriage Champions) to provide premarital preparation and marriage enrichment activities.

Over the course of the project's 5-year period we will accomplish the following objectives:

1. Provide training for premarital couples.
2. Provide enrichment activities for married couples.  
3. Train couples to serve as volunteer premarital and marriage enrichment educators—Marriage Champions.  

NWA Healthy Marriages will be delivered through voluntary activities that implement marriage education services and skills-based interventions specifically designed to increase the likelihood that healthy marriages will form or that existing marriages will experience measurable long-term marital satisfaction and stability. Project events will be provided in varying locations throughout Benton, Washington, Madison, Carroll, Crawford and Sebastian counties in order to reach as many interested people as possible.