More than ever I am acutely aware of the importance of marriage. Daily I see the impact of failing marriages with my clients. It’s the wife who is struggling with depression and anxiety because she desperately wants to feel loved by her husband. It’s the husband who is battling sexual addiction because he yearns for true intimacy without knowing how to experience that with his wife. It’s the teenager who is struggling to develop their confidence and identity because their parents’ divorce has left them questioning everything. It’s the husband and wife who love each other but have no idea how to communicate or resolve conflict in a healthy way.

Nearly every client I see or person I speak with has been impacted in a significant way by marriage both in negative and positive ways. Marriage affects our individual health, our spouse’s health, and our children’s health. It is a source of fulfillment, joy, solace, friendship, and strength, or it’s a source of discouragement, emptiness, depression, and turmoil. Studies support this in revealing the various physical, mental, and emotional benefits of marriage on the husband and wife as well as the children.

There is just no way to avoid or ignore the bottom line … marriage is the heartbeat of our society.

As such, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of what we do at Foundation Restoration. We passionately work at helping restore that foundation of society through our resources. It’s my heart’s desire to encourage, equip, inspire, and educate individuals and couples in navigating their way to a healthy and thriving marriage.

Corresponding with thousands of people who contact us for help; reaching hundreds of thousands of visitors to our website; interacting with tens of thousands of people through social media; sending out books, information, and notes of encouragement to those in need; speaking to groups on the importance of their marriage and practical ways they can improve theirs; and praying over each of the requests and concerns people share. These are just some of the ways we try to live out our mission of restoring the foundation of society – marriages.

There is so much more we want and need to do though, and that’s where you come in! As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we rely on your generosity to keep our ministry going.  When you say yes to our invitation to join the fight for marriages, you are saying yes to making a difference, to touching lives, to keeping families together. In the upcoming year there are several exciting, new initiatives we are trying to launch as a way to meet the tangible needs of those who seek out our resources.

We want to share just a tiny snippet of two of these initiatives we hope to launch in 2015 …

  • Deserving Date: Our desire is to set up a safe place for parents who are struggling financially to drop their kids off for childcare so that they can enjoy a date night with one another without having to pay a babysitter. Through community partnerships, we want to offer affordable and creative options for those date nights, and we want to give them tips and ways to make the most of that time together.
  • Story Telling: There are few things as powerful as story-telling. So many couples have powerful stories to tell, and we want to tell them. By sitting down and capturing their stories through videos, we then want to share those stories with our audience as a source of encouragement, inspiration, and hope.

These are just two of the initiatives we are looking to launch in the New Year, and we are ecstatic about them! We know though that the only way we can make these happen is through YOUR participation and generosity!

Consider yourself cordially invited to partner with us in this incredible opportunity of sowing into the most important relationship there is – marriage – the very heartbeat of our society! I’m excited about the opportunities God has given us to bless marriages and be a part of His restorative work; it’s an honor to be used by Him. That’s why it’s exciting and an honor to extend that opportunity to you!

Thank you for your generosity and for partnering with us to restore the foundation of society – marriages!

God bless and Happy New Year!

Ashley McIlwain, MA, LMFTA
Founder & CEO, Foundation Restoration

There are 3 easy ways to give:

  1. Send your check or money order payable to Foundation Restoration to: 9650 Strickland Rd., Suite 103-180, Raleigh, NC 27615
  2. Give online through PayPal with your credit card. We have both one time and monthly options. Visit https://foundationrestoration.org/donate/ for this option.
  3. Set up a monthly or one-time payment through your bank’s bill pay option. Sign into your online banking, go to your payee’s, and enter in Foundation Restoration and our mailing address (9650 Strickland Rd., Suite 103-180, Raleigh, NC 27615), the amount you want to give and the frequency, and when you want them to send it. (*This is one of the easiest options for you and for us because it makes it automatic for you, so you don’t have to worry about remembering, but it also means we don’t get hit with fees. In other words, we get to use 100% of the donation you give with this option.)

Thank you for your generosity!