IOWA FAMILY POLICY CENTER
Strengthening Iowa's Families

Marriage Matters® of Iowa

Marriage Matters® empowers leaders to promote
and support healthy marriages through Marriage
Matters® Agreements, mentor training, and
promoting marriage at the Iowa Statehouse.

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Marriage Matters^® Executive Director Mike Hartwig and his wife LeeAnn.

  I’ll never forget watching the Mickey Mouse Club with my two sisters.  My father came into the living room and asked that I come down to the basement with him.  He gave me a small gift, said goodbye, and promptly walked out of my life, the life of my two sisters and the life of my mom...forever.  I know first hand that marriage matters.
    Unfortunately, our story is not unique. The breakdown of the family is the driving force behind almost all of our gravest problems facing our communities—crime, poverty, welfare dependence, homelessness, educational stagnation, even child abuse.  The collapse of marriage affects our economy, adults, and particularly, our children. 
     Marriage Matters^®  equips leaders to create a marriage friendly culture.  We encourage them to give couples the practical tools they need to have a life-long healthy marriage and it is working.  Through our work we’ve realized a lowering of the divorce rate in the counties where we have initiatives.  In Linn County alone we have seen a drop in the divorce rate of over 15%!  We know there are fewer cases of abuse for women and children.  We know there are fewer women and children living in poverty.  We know kids are doing better in school, and there are more dads intimately engaged in the children’s lives.  
                                    
                               Mike Hartwig, Ph.D.
                  Executive Director of Marriage Matters^®