Building Strong Communities

Georgia Family Council's Center for Community Initiatives (CCI) team is building strong communities throughout Georgia by promoting healthy marriages and families at the local level. CCI connects leaders from various sectors of a community and helps them craft long-range plans for strengthening families measurably in a way that best fit their community's needs. CCI also certifies these leaders in nationally recognized resources that emphasize marriage preparation, marriage enrichment and overall family stability. Working in 12 communities across Georgia to reduce the rates of divorce and unwed childbearing, CCI has the potential to impact more than 500,000 people in the next five years.

The Center for Community Initiatives uses the following approach:

* Connecting leaders from the various sectors - church, business, government, etc. - for the purpose of strengthening marriages and families

* Coordinating the activities of the leaders, helping them craft long-range plans and goals that will result in stronger marriages, fewer divorces and a higher percentage of kids being raised by their married moms and dads

* Providing community leaders with the research they need to better understand the problems they face and the resources they currently have, while directing them to "best practices" - training them in nationally recognized programs that have proven most effective in strengthening marriages and families

Exemplary results

This strategy has proven effective at saving and strengthening marriages nationwide. Some communities across the U.S. have seen a 15 percent reduction in divorce after just five years, and nearly 30 percent in 10 years! That's the kind of outcome Georgia Family Council is working toward.

Click here to find out more about the Community Marriage Initiative.