Equipping parents to lead and take responsibility for their families.

The family unit embodies our most profound human relationships and shapes our experience and development as human beings. The Texas Family Project strives to promote family flourishing for the benefit of couples, children, our communities and our state. 

Healthy family formation is vital to the wellbeing of our communities and our state. It serves as:

The foundation of a home

Marriage provides the foundation of every stable society across time and culture, it is the adhesive that holds society together. Marriage is more than a romantic notion; it is the family leadership team, the central bond of every family. As goes the marriage, so goes the family; and as goes the family, so goes society.

The foundation of a family

Marriage is vital for couples and their children. Social sciences show that married couples enjoy better health, greater financial stability, and greater levels of happiness. The data also show that marriage provides the best environment for raising children, giving them a stronger start in life than any other familial arrangement.

The foundation of a community

When families break down or fail to form, the consequences are costly for the entire community.  A 2000 report by over 100 family scholars and civic leaders documents the vital role of marriage and family in society: "Divorce and unwed childbearing create substantial public costs paid by taxpayers. Higher rates of crime, drug abuse, education failure, chronic illness, child abuse, domestic violence and poverty among both adults and children bring with them higher taxpayer costs in diverse forms.” By strengthening our families, we can impact couples, children, our communities, and our country.

The foundation a democratic society

A vibrant democracy depends on the strength of its families, as they are the main transmitter of values, the place where children develop a moral framework, learn how to interact with others, and observe the values and character qualities of their parents. John Stanley says it best: “the traditional family is the cradle of civilization, the first cell in the organism of human society. It is the most basic building block of communities, neighborhoods, and the myriad ways that people affiliate with each other… Families can foster the kind of character and the necessary trust that free institutions of democracy and a market economy need to remain responsible and humane.” There is no other institution that can replace the family. 

The foundational building block. The two-parent family is the most fundamental building block of our civilization. And like its individual members, two-parent families require nurture and support. When we seek the flourishing of our families, we all reap the benefits. The benefits of marriage and family are almost too numerous to count, but among them are:

  • improved physical health and longevity, 

  • improved mental health and emotional wellbeing,

  • improved educational outcomes, 

  • improved financial stability, and 

  • reduced rates of alcohol and substance abuse,

  • reduced rates of divorce or unwed childbearing,

  • reduced rates of violence, abuse, and crime.

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened, and maintained.”

Winston Churchill