Family values organization

expands through the region

   BELLEVUE, Wash. — A Washington-based organization that has worked for almost two decades to promote traditional family values has changed its name and expanded to serve Oregon with equal enthusiasm.
Families Northwest, headed by Jeff Kemp, has become Stronger Families.    The new name reflects the fact that it is incorporating the legacy and web domains from a formerly active group — Stronger Families for Oregon.
   “This name opens the door for our organization to grow and influence beyond the Northwest, and develop tools and strategies that can be used in the nationwide effort to shape marriage and family work,” wrote Kemp in a letter last month to supporters. “As president of Stronger Families, I can tell you my vision for the Northwest has never been stronger than it is today. My mission has always been to make the Pacific Northwest the premiere place in the world for marriage, family and children.”
    Families Northwest was founded in 1993; Kemp is a former NFL quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks and several other teams, and is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an MBA from Pepperdine University. He is the son of former Congressman Jack Kemp, who was Republican nominee for vice president in 1996.
    Stronger Families for Oregon, formerly known as the Oregon Center for Family Policy, was founded in 1994 and was based in Salem. Both it and Families Northwest were developed as state-level “family policy councils” patterned after the nationwide work of Focus on the Family.
    Executive director of Stronger Families is Luke Nelson, who formerly was on staff with Friends of the Family ministries in Corvallis.
    Families Northwest has played a role in recent years in shaping 45 Community Marriage & Family Agreements, which increase marital preparation within Northwest churches and has trained 900 pastors and leaders.
    It also has formed or coached seven privately funded “Community Transformation Partnerships” – including in Clackamas, Ore., and Vancouver and Spokane, Wash. – where their work has contributed to large drops in the divorce rate.
    Kevin Campbell, chairman of the board of the Oregon organization, wrote in a letter to supporters that “we are confident this new strategic union will honor your faithfulness and preserve the near 20-year legacy of work for fatherhood, marriage and abstinence in Oregon.” He also praised Kemp as an “effective ambassador for the family” who will work on behalf of the values that Stronger Families of Oregon had promoted.
   “Our work will be focused on changing the culture around marriage, driving down the divorce rate, and equipping communities throughout the Northwest to be successful in building strong families.”
    For more information, go to www.strongerfamilies.org.