Mission and Vision

Changing the Marriages of Northwest Arkansas

The Center for Relationship Enrichment (CRE) is committed to significantly strengthening marriage relationships by implementing NWA Healthy Marriages program.

Despite the fact that 93% of Americans rate having a happy marriage as one of their most important objectives in life, nearly half of all marriages fail; and among those couples who remain married, many experience stress and unhappiness.

Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, supported by the presence of Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt Transportation and others. However, Northwest Arkansas has the second highest divorce rate in the country.

National research supports the fact that the positive impact of healthy marriages is indisputable:

• Adults in healthy marriages do better in virtually every measure of well-being, including lifespan, happiness, physical and mental health, lifetime earnings, stable employment and stress.
• Communities with a higher percentage of married couples have more physically and emotionally healthy citizens and a decreased need for social services, lower domestic violence rates, crime, teenage pregnancy, and juvenile delinquency.
• Business benefits from stronger marriages as well, since work loss associated with family stress, marital problems and parenting issues translates into a loss of approximately $10 billion per year.

The mission of NWA Healthy Marriages is to prepare unmarried couples for successful healthy marriages and to strengthen existing marriages.

Our passion is to see a reduction in the divorce rate and increases in marital satisfaction. We want our community to become known as a place where healthy marriages thrive.