Milestones

1976:

House of Ruth opened the basement of a row house on Massachusetts Avenue to eight women who were homeless or destitute.

1977:

Services were extended to families when The Annex opened to serve women who were abused and who had their children with them. An average of 9 women and 12-15 children stayed in small quarters every night.

1978:

Madison opened, providing short-term housing with supportive services at a former elementary school on Capitol Hill.

The original House of Ruth site became Unity, a transitional living program where women who were once homeless could prepare for independent living. Today, Unity still serves as home for 25 women.

1985:

Herspace replaced The Annex, providing a new, larger site for up to five families made homeless by domestic violence. Services became more comprehensive and included counseling, a woman’s advocate and child advocate, and referrals to legal, medical, child care, and other service providers.

1989:

Herspace II was created, adding transitional (18-24 month) housing for seven families, increasing total capacity to 12 families. Services included community support groups, a children’s program, a 24-hour domestic violence hotline, and a growing community education program.

1990:

House of Ruth opened Kidspace, a child and family development center for 26 children, to respond to the child care needs of women and the developmental needs of the many district preschoolers facing homelessness.

1992:

Herspace moved to a newly-renovated home with room for six women and their children.

1993:

The Mothers and Infants Program opened in a townhouse, providing service-enriched housing for ten women who were homeless and pregnant (or who had recently given birth).

1994:

Familyspace opened, providing ongoing supportive services to families exiting our service-enriched transitional housing programs.

1995:

The Empowerment Center opened, expanding to 24 hours a day the services provided to women living at Madison, the emergency shelter.

1996:

Kidspace moved from a rented church basement to its own spacious home with two buildings and two age-specific playgrounds, increasing its capacity to 60 children aged 6 weeks to 5 years. At this campus, Kidspace now serves up to 76 children every day.

1997:

Reunified Families opened, providing the 10 women at the Mothers and Infantsprogram with a new home in a 13-unit apartment building where they could be joined by their older children.

New Pathways was opened in the former home of Mothers and Infants, to provide service-enriched housing for 10 more women.

New Beginnings opened, providing service-enriched transitional housing to 10 women who have no children with them.

1998:

Domestic Violence Support Center opened, providing crisis intervention and mental health assistance to women and children affected by domestic violence. Today, it provides counseling, tools for growth, healing and problem-solving to roughly 400 individuals each year.

2000:

House of Ruth purchased and renovated an apartment building, Three Sisters, to house five families with 24-hour staff support.

2001:

Freedom Place opened, replacing Herspace II in a new site providing service-enriched transitional (18-24 month) housing to families left homeless by domestic violence. The newly renovated building increased the number of families served from 10 to 13.

2005:

House of Ruth opened our sixth location for families, Hope Rising, in a newly renovated building, providing long-term, service-enriched housing for 12 more families that are homeless.

2006:

Kidspace was accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). House of Ruth continues cutting-edge standards to maintain this national recognition.

2008:

Unity, House of Ruth’s first home, was spruced up with new paint, furnishings, a new fence and landscape. Transitional service-enriched housing continued without interruption to 25 women.

2009:

A New Way opened, providing transitional (18-24 months) service-enriched housing for 12 more families who are homeless as a result of domestic violence, bringing the capacity for families throughout House of Ruth to 74.

Two programs, Three Sisters (for five families) and Herspace (for six families), combined at a single location (also called Herspace) to house and assist 13 families. The new site allows for better interaction with the families and can be staffed at a lower cost.

Madison, where 50 women receive service-enriched housing, was renovated to create more privacy and better spaces for interacting with the women. The Empowerment Center was integrated into Madison to improve services and reduce costs.

2010:

The building that housed Three Sisters, a small program for families, was re-purposed to provide more long-term, supportive housing to 14 women who have no children with them.