The Healthy Families Program provides support for refugees and immigrants in their transition
to the United States while honoring their original culture. The program focuses on practical
guidance and relationship skills.

To be resettled is to confront the loss of home and country, and the many difficulties
of making a new beginning in a new environment. The Healthy Families Program is focused
on helping ease this transition through providing practical tools for managing emotions,
values, and beliefs, identifying realistic problem-solving methods, and developing decision-
making systems.

Mission:

To provide the training and support necessary to foster healthy marriages in refugee
families through training models that preserve their cultural identity.

The Healthy Families Program provides refugees and immigrants the information and tools
needed to build successful and stable families and communities in their new country. We
have developed community partnerships with multiple organizations and refugee-serving
agencies.

See our Healthy Families newsletters!

Marriage Education Models

The Healthy Families Program offers several communication training models for refugee
family enrichment.

• Power of Two™: This curriculum, developed by Susan Heitler, Ph.D. and Abigail
  Hirsch, Ph.D., provides learning tools for couples to strengthen their marriage,
  overcome challenges, and share years of joy to build loving and long-lasting
  relationships.
• Active Relationships™: This curriculum was developed by licensed Marriage
  and Family Therapist Kelly Simpson, M.A., from the Active Relationships Center.
  The Active Communications workshop is used for teaching powerful communication
  and conflict resolution skills/tools that promote collaboration, respect, joy and
  intimacy. The Active Money Personalities workshop teaches couples a common
  language and tools for discussing differences in the various ways they view money
  and helps them identify their own styles as well as strengths and growth areas of
  each type.
• Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS): PAIRS for
  PEERS is an internationally acclaimed program of the PAIRS Foundation, a
  non-profit 501 (c) (3) educational organization. The foundation trains teachers,
  counselors and youth leaders to teach relationship skills to young adults. The
  PAIRS for PEERS program is based on Dr. Lori Gordon's experience as an
  educator, family therapist, lecturer and world-renowned author.

Marriage Mentoring

• 12 Conversations™ for Building Strong Marriages: Marriage mentoring is a
  way to help couples who have completed our classes become successful role
  models for others. Now that so many couples have learned successful ways
  to nurture their relationships, they are guiding other couples down the path to
  stronger marriages. The 12 Conversations™ program, developed by Dr. Ed
  Gray, LMFT, is a simple method for strengthening marriages and encouraging
  friendships between couples. These guided conversations establish habits that
  can happen naturally in daily life.

Past Trainings:

• “Domestic Violence in the Refugee and Immigrant Communities,” Maria
  Teverovsky, MSSA, Director, Refugee Family Strengthening Program, HIAS
  and Wendy Lipshutz, LMSW, Shalom Bayit Program Director, JF&CS
• “Secrets of a Happy Marriage,” David Woodsfellow, Ph.D.
• “Power of Two,” Tatyana Fertelmeyster, Director of Cultural Competency
  Programs, Jewish Child and Family Services, Chicago
• “Parenting Tips & Tools,” Wendi Verzosa, LCSW
• “Marriage Mentoring,” Dr. Ed Gray
• “The Extra Dimension of Disability on Immigrant and Refugee Populations,”
  Nancy W. Duncan , Executive Director Georgia ADA Exchange

If you are interested in attending future trainings, please refer to the JF&CS
calendar. To register for an upcoming training, contact 770.677.9454 or
HealthyFamilies@jfcs-atlanta.org.

For more information contact 770.677.9454 or healthyfamilies@jfcs-atlanta.org.

For International Services, click here.

The JF&CS Healthy Families Program is funded in large part with federal funds through the Office of
Refugee Resettlement, Administration of Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services (Grant No. 90ZF0042). Funding is also provided by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. All
content expressed herein is solely derived from program staff and does not necessarily reflect the
views of any federal agency.