Jeff Kemp was concerned about the conditions that young children were growing up in. 

There were just too many kids from broken homes.    

The more he witnessed, the more he wanted to do something to help strengthen marriages, and in turn families, he said. 

"Whether it is a single mom, or a divorced couple, I wanted to find a way to show these people that marriage works if you work at marriage," said Kemp who played professional football from 1981 - 1991.  "I wanted to find a way to help people keep their families together."  

Kemp and Stacy, his wife of 27 years, attended marriage conferences, and became marriage mentors in their church, he said.  From those experiences he realized that a strong marriage makes a strong family, and in 1993, he founded "Stronger Families" an advocate for healthy marriages and strong families, that uses public venues, events, seminars, and the Internet to broadcast the blueprints of healthy marriage and family, he said.

About a month ago, the Seattle-based Strong Families launched a new program that is designed primarily for military families called "Oxygen for Your Relationship Seminars."  Through this initiative,  military servicemembers and their spouses attend a seminar to learn skills that will lead to a stronger marriage, and inevitably a stronger family. 

"I realize the incredible sacrifices that the military families make for all of us, and I want to do what I can to help," Kemp, the father of four sons said. "Our program is designed to help military couples strengthen their marriage and handle the unique stresses of the military on marriages and families.  The concern is that the stress of the military, especially deployments, can put a lot of pressure on a marriage. To strengthen a marriage at any point is the best thing you can do." 

Participants in the Oxygen program start by filling out an online assessment called the Couples Checkup, Kemp said.  Then they attend a free 4-hour workshop (the seminar is funded by TriWest Healthcare and a small sponsorship by AUSA for its members) that helps the couples better understand one another's strengths and weaknesses.  Through interactive activities and dialogue the couples discuss communication, conflict resolution, sexual relationships, and reconciliation and forgiveness. 

At the end of the seminar the couples come away with a personal action plan, and a way to build a marriage support system.  

"The action plan is immediate and includes some tangible next steps for the couple to try," said Noel Meador, the executive director of Stronger Families, who gave the first seminar.  "They are told to find another a marriage support system... maybe a couple who has a positive marriage that they can be in a mentorship relationship with.  This is crucial for the couples who have a spouse getting ready to deploy."

One wife of a deployed soldier had her husband take the Couples Checkup online from Afghanistan.  She told Meador that she and her husband were already implementing some of the things covered in the seminar into their lives before his return, she said.

"A lot of couples are just in a state of anxiety, and they just don't know how their spouses return will all pan out," Meador said. "

Upon completing the seminar, each couple is enrolled in Oxygen for Relationships, an online community where they are fed video dialogue and blog answers to questions and situations that come up after the seminar.   

"The idea is that these couples will share the Couples Checkout assessment with their friends so they might go online and take one," Kemp said. "Then we hope they will start a support system where they become a support team for other couples."

The first official seminar was held about a month ago, and included 9 couples and the wife of a deployed soldier, Kemp said.    

One couple, Spec. Richard Hahn who is assigned to the 593^rd, and his wife April, attended the seminar because they were having communication problems.

"We had gotten into a big argument because he decided to extend in the military to deploy, without telling me," April said. "We needed to learn how to communicate better."

The couple who have been married almost two years, learned a lot about communication, and some ways to deal with the late July deployment, she said.

"When he calls we will be able to talk about things more," she said. "There were a lot of people from our battalion there.  Some of them had good stories about their deployments, but others were there because the deployments put a strain on their marriage."

Spec. Hahn agreed.  He learned some new ways to communicate with his wife, he said.

"When I deploy I will be able to talk about things better," he said.  "I learned that communication is very important."

Two Oxygen seminars are scheduled for May 1.   They will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the North Fort Chapel and the Lakewood Boys and Girls Club.  Free child care will be provided, and lunch will be served.  One lucky couple will receive a couple's getaway at each of the seminars.  To enroll or learn more about the oxygen seminar program visit the Web site at www.oxygenforyourrelationships.com.