Family Institute

Since 1997, the Pine Rest Family Institute has been dedicated to improving the well being of children in West Michigan by supporting marriage and strengthening families through programs of prevention and education. This program is unique, however, in that the services provided to the community are often indirect. "We do this through a "wholesale" approach – teaching the teachers (ie: pastors, leaders, educators, clinicians, etc.) – as they are able to positively influence many others in the community through their work." says Dr. Ryan Jaarsma, Executive Director of the Family Institute. "A central theme in this effort is reaching out to the community for collaboration."

Such collaborations led to the creation of Healthy Marriages Grand Rapids (HMGR) in 1997. HMGR is a grass roots, community based, non-profit organization that is a collaborative group of pastors, judges, psychologists, social workers, community leaders and laypeople. This group developed and promoted a community marriage policy (agreed-upon guidelines for premarital preparation that over 2000 community leaders signed) to empower and equip couples with basic skills toward developing healthy, fulfilling marriages.

Dr. Jaarsma sees that purpose continuing into the future as the Family Institute collaborates with additional existing community resources, bringing skill-building and training, plus community education programs, like Secrets for Successful Marriage and the Grand Rapids Christian Parenting Conference. The institute also brings in national and local speakers for the Marriage and Family Building Series, and created the innovative Keys for Couples pre-marital program for couples seeking civil marriages.

"Many of the agencies that attended the training and certification programs offered such as Family Wellness/Survival Skills for Healthy Families, and No Jerks, tend to be smaller agencies that do not have the resources to bring in such programs on their own. The Family Institute, however, can facilitate so these smaller agencies will have the opportunity to learn these skills," says Jaarsma. “The challenge is to connect the proven programs to the people who need them."