2008 President's Message

With the presidential elections currently in full swing, public polls are constantly in the news. A recent newspaper article mentioned that a public poll showed that the state of the economy surpassed the war in Iraq as one of the public's main concerns, and other news has mentioned the possibility of a recession. This past year also focused on the first Baby Boomer to qualify for Medicare, meaning that the group responsible for the phrase "the graying of America" is facing retirement issues. In addition, the sub-prime mortgage industry experienced problems that resulted in the burst of the housing "bubble" in parts of the United States. It's no wonder that many families are concerned about family resource management issues. Therefore, it is only fitting that this year's UCFR conference theme and focus is "Family Resources: Thinking Beyond Budgets."

Our conference chair, Joyce Buck, has an excellent program planned for this year's conference at Weber State University. The plenary speaker, Richard Paul Evans, will discuss the topic of his latest book, The 5 Things a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth. A former advertising executive turned author, Mr. Evans wrote a story called "The Christmas Box" for his two daughters and made a few additional copies for close friends and family. As his story was passed around and read by others, he found himself in the midst of numerous requests for his story to be published and sold in bookstores. The results were a #1 best seller that took the country by storm and completely changed the lives of the Evans family. His financial success led to the creation The Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. Over 16,000 children have been housed in Christmas Box House facilities throughout Utah and in Peru. Mr. Evans is currently writing a sequel to The 5 Things a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth called The 5 Things a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth for Women. As a popular public speaker, Mr. Evans is in high demand, so we are privileged to have him participate in our conference.

I invite you to participate in our conference and promise that you will not be disappointed. It would be great to have you present on an issue related to the conference or any other of the Family Life Education areas as well. Please join us for networking, good food, and learning about and discussing current family life related issues. I hope to see you in Ogden on April 11th!

Susan Ericksen, RN, MS, LMFT

President, UCFR