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A New Season was organized specifically for charitable and educational purposes to give engaged couples in the tri-state area the opportunity to participate in marriage preparation workshops and training sessions in a variety of areas for success in their relationships which will prepare them to walk into their new season with commitment, confidence and courage.
The programs will include topics such as, but not limited to:
- Compatibility
- Relationships
- Financial Planning
- Pre-natal and child-care
- Most of all, a relationship with God and how He interacts with their relationship to each other, their children, and future children, in a Judeo-Christian environment.
A New Season will also offer eligible couples a opportunity for a subsidized wedding. Course completion will be a required qualification along with financial statement disclosure and other documentation based on our financial tier structure.
Our staff envisions providing couples with the skills for a firmly rooted life together regardless of their economic status. Starting with a sound preparation for marriage and culminating in a memorable wedding day. We want all couples in the tri-state area to have the opportunity to achieve their goals, fulfill their dreams and strengthen their relationship by preparing them to walk into their new season with confidence and courage.
Benefits: is it worth it?
- Quality decision making in all aspects of the couple's life
- Healthier attitude toward marriage
- Healthier communications skills
- Respect for one another
- Increased self-awareness and appreciation of the responsibility of commitment for marriage
- Increased time devoted to relationship during engagement and marriage
- Growth and healthier, happier marriage
- Decrease in number of divorces
- Increased awareness of the importance of marriage and family in the community
- Education, strategies, and practical advice for engagement to marriage from the workshops
- Information on resources for assistance and intervention
For Children and Youth
Researchers have found many benefits for children and youth who are raised by parents in healthy marriages, compared to unhealthy marriages, including the following:
- More likely to attend college
- More likely to succeed academically
- Physically healthier
- Emotionally healthier
- Less likely to attempt or commit suicide
- Demonstrate less behavioral problems in school
- Less likely to be a victim of physical or sexual abuse
- Less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol
- Less likely to commit delinquent behaviors
- Have a better relationship with their mothers and fathers
- Decreases their chances of divorcing when they get married
- Less likely to become pregnant as a teenager, or impregnate someone.
- Less likely to be sexually active as teenagers
- Less likely to contract STD's
- Less likely to be raised in poverty
For Women
Researchers have found many benefits for women who are in healthy marriages, compared to unhealthy marriages, including the following:
- More satisfying relationship
- Emotionally healthier
- Wealthier
- Less likely to be victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or other violent crimes
- Less likely to attempt or commit suicide
- Decrease risk of drug and alcohol abuse
- Less likely to contract STD's
- Less likely to remain or end up in poverty
- Have better relationships with their children
- Physically healthier
For Men
Researchers have found many benefits for men who are in healthy marriages, compared to unhealthy marriages, including the following:
- Live longer
- Physically healthier
- Wealthier
- Increase in the stability of employment
- Higher wages
- Emotionally healthier
- Decrease risk of drug and alcohol abuse
- Have better relationships with their children
- More satisfying sexual relationship
- Less likely to commit violent crimes
- Less likely to contract STD's
- Less likely to attempt or commit suicide
For Communities
Researchers have found many benefits for communities when they have a higher percentage of couples in healthy marriages, compared to unhealthy marriages, including the following:
- Higher rates of physically healthy citizens
- Higher rates of emotionally healthy citizens
- Higher rates of educated citizens
- Lower domestic violence rates
- Lower crime statistics
- Lower teen age pregnancy rates
- Lower rates of juvenile delinquency
- Higher rates of home ownership
- Lower rates of migration
- Higher property values
- Decreased need for social services
[Source: Why Marriage Matters, Second Edition: Twenty-Six Conclusions from the Social Sciences, September 2005.]
Also see What Is a Healthy Marriage? Kristin Anderson Moore; Susan M. Jekielek; Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew; Lina Guzman; Suzanne Ryan; Zakia Redd. September 2004.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families www.acf.hhs.gov
Is the Ring the Thing? Child Well-being and the Transition from Cohabitation to Marriage (posted August 20, 2007) - This paper, written by Gregory Acs and published by the Urban Institute, assesses the extent to which children living in cohabiting families would benefit if their mothers were to marry. Children whose cohabiting mothers marry have higher math and reading scores than children whose mothers either continue to cohabit or who dissolve their cohabiting relationships; marriage is uncorrelated with behavioral outcomes of these children. Interestingly, much of the difference between the test scores of children whose cohabiting mothers marry and those who do not actually predates the marriage. This suggests that the benefits of marriage for children living with cohabiting couples are smaller than they initially appear. See http://www.urban.org/publications/411525.htm
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