Community Marriage Builders (CMB), a local non-profit organization dedicated to community marriage education, has been awarded a $530,000 Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA).

Over 2,000 organizations nationwide applied for funding. Only 135 were selected to receive funds to support innovative programs designed to strengthen existing marriages and to prepare unmarried couples for successful healthy marriages.

Only three other organizations in Indiana received the grant. CMB will use funding to strengthen and significantly expand a coordinated delivery or marriage preparation and enrichment programs within its four-county service area, which includes Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey and Gibson counties in southwest Indiana.

&#8220We will not be reinventing the wheel here, but rather building on a successful framework of programs that have already been well-established and received in our community," said CMB Executive Director Dr. Ann Gries.

As a five-year grant award, the total funding CMB is now eligible to receive could amount to well over $2 million in five years.

Activities supported by the grant include marriage mentoring for premarital and engaged couples, marriage enrichment classes, marriage counseling, trainings and consultation with communities of faith to build effective premarital support programs within their congregations, and general marketing and community awareness activities.

&#8220This grant demonstrates our government's continued commitment to strengthen marriage and families," said CMB Board President Pastor Carl Mann II. &#8220While we certainly feel blessed and humbled to receive this grant award, it's even more thrilling to know that CMB will now have the means to make an even greater impact on couples and families right here in our own community."

A requirement of the federal grant award is for CMB for raise $50,000 annually in matching funds.

&#8220We will be calling upon our church and community partners as well as individuals for their support," said Dr. Gries. &#8220It's crucial that we raise these matching funds to remain eligible for subsequent federal funding. We have quite a challenge before us, but feel confident that we can be successful."