WICHITA – This week, Catholic Charities of Kansas announced the launch of a new public awareness campaign, “Love Letters from Kansas,” to promote healthy marriage and relationship stability across the state.
 In October 2011, Catholic Charities of Kansas received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance to provide free relationship education workshops and services to meet family needs throughout Kansas. This grant expands current Catholic Charities of Kansas relationship education workshops and services open to married couples, engaged couples, dating couples and single adults in Great Bend and 11 other cities. Spanish speaking workshops are offered in some cities, including Dodge City.
The public awareness campaign includes a website, www.KansasLoveLetters.com.
 Catholic Charities of Kansas has provided marriage and relationship education through its Marriage for Keeps program to close to 1,100 couples since 2007 and more than 135 individual adults since October 2011. This program features small group, researched based interactive relationship and marital education workshops, assistance with accessing community services, employment and career development and parenting classes.
 The workshops and services offered under this grant target individuals and couples of all ages and all economic backgrounds including those who are not married.
“We decided to participate in a Within Our Reach workshop together because we really wanted to learn how to have a healthy marriage,” said Jacqui and Ozell Mason of Wichita. “Our facilitator provided us with every day tools we could use to strengthen our relationship that most couples probably don’t take the time to think about. A few months have passed since our workshop ended and the way we communicate and pay attention to each other has definitely improved.”