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By Trisha Turner
Last winter, Shar'ron Davis and her boyfriend were concerned their longtime relationship could suffer because of problems just beginning to rear ugly heads. Now the couple understands that compromise and communication can keep those issues from derailing all they have worked so hard to achieve--including their relationship with their 6-year-old daughter.
 Lorraine Blackman Photo by Indianapolis Star/News
The program aims to prevent long-term family problems before they start by offering free classes taught in the community. In its second year, the program includes courses in relationships and in parenting for couples in Marion County. |
The couple have the African-American Family Life Education Program, directed by Lorraine Blackman in the IU School of Social Work at IUPUI, to thank for that understanding. The program aims to prevent long-term family problems before they start by offering free classes taught in the community. In its second year, the program includes courses in relationships and in parenting for couples in Marion County.
Davis, who is working toward a general studies degree at IUPUI, completed the seven-week African-American Marriage Enrichment Program with her partner earlier this year. She has seen their relationship improve as they implement the lessons Blackman taught them and others in their class.
For Blackman, this is just what she envisioned when she began the classes at the Martin Luther King Multi-Service Center in January 1998.
"One of my mentors said to me that what we need in the 21st century are interpreters," explained Blackman, an associate professor. "One of the roles of the interpreter is to take the knowledge of the university and bring it to bear on the problems in the culture, then to use those experiences to enhance the knowledge of the campus."
Although the relationship and parenting courses are designed for married couples, unmarried couples in healthy, committed relationships are welcomed. Single parents may attend the parenting classes. Those who participate are offered dinner and child care, and as an extra incentive, every person completing a course receives $100.
"Too often, we see families after they've fallen in the river, but we don't go upstream to see who's pushing them in," Blackman said. "We get caught in the cycle of intervening in the most severe circumstances."
The African-American Family Life Education Program is a partnership among the School of Social Work, Wishard Father Resource Center, the Martin Luther King Multi-Service Center and Robinson Community African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is funded by the Lilly Endowment, Moriah Fund, and the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
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