Here at TACKF we pride ourselves in high quality care of our service couples. Our secret sauce tends to be two fold:
#1 our proven programs
#2 our amazing coaches
Today we get to hear from Lead Coach, Mariangela Gordon. She is an integral part in guiding couples through TACKF’s two year journey. This journey takes couples through five steps:
1. Strength Training
2. Empowered Spouses Hybrid (For Women)
3. Empowered Service Member Men Hybrid (For Men)
4. Mastering Your Marriage Hybrid
5. Date Night Out Box
Mariangela sees first hand the struggles of our service couples. Her advice, “make time, you will never find the time to work on your marriage.” The organized process that TACKF outlines for couples gives couples this opportunity. Our military and first responder couples face similar challenges in lifestyle as it relates to career field stresses and reintegration. Still, the differences within the two communities are great. Military families deal more with PCS and deployments, where as first responders typically stay in a singular location. First responder couples face challenges of not having built in community or the luxury of appreciation for what they do, whereas military couples have built in resources, groups and community, as well as receive a “Thank You” from the civilian population for their service.
Mariangela’s desire to join the team came out of a love for the Foundation. As an Army spouse herself, Mariangela appreciated all that the foundation was doing to save lives and heal marriages. She notes that she loves how TACKF includes our first responders as they are an “underserved population and most organizations do not appreciate them”. The lead coach thinks back to couples testimonials of how the foundation made them feel loved and seen. From family date night boxes to how they serve each couple. Mariangela is truly proud of the part she plays in the foundation.
When asked, what surprised her most about working with service couples, Mariangela sated, “I was surprised at how high their walls are. This is a very guarded community.” Mariangela is intentional on building relationships and creating a safe space for participants to put down their walls. As each couple does, they welcome the help and share openly as they desire the support the foundation provides.
Like Taya, Kyle, TACKF founder, Strength Training is Mariangela’s favorite part of the program. “It’s how they learn to love and appreciate their spouses more.”, she states. Over her years of leading that training she has seen couples go from self proclaimed roommates to embracing on a couch together in their latter sessions. “They learned to value their strengths and use them to fill one another’s cups.”
