Every day, House of Ruth provides housing and supportive services to 109 women at five residential programs located in Washington, DC. All were homeless and nearly all are survivors of domestic violence. Staff is on-site around the clock to assist the women and ensure their safety, while creating a warm, nurturing environment.

Each woman we work with was once a little girl who was neglected and horribly abused. All the terrible things that might happen to a child did happen to these women, and more. The neglect and abuse never stopped – until the women came here.

At Madison, New Beginnings and Unity, we provide service-enriched housing to a total of 85 women daily who are working toward safety, stability and self-sufficiency. The Case Managers work to establish strong, positive relationships with each woman. Based on these relationships, the women participate in a wide variety of services and supports to stabilize the issues that led to homelessness and abuse and acquire the skills for safer, more self-sufficient lives.

In the last few years, more women with serious mental illness have been coming to House of Ruth. For these women, an independent, self-sufficient life is an unrealistic, even dangerous, goal. They need daily, ongoing support in order to remain safe and to keep the symptoms of their mental illnesses under control. Without our help, these vulnerable women would quickly wind up on the street again, easy prey for abuse and violence.

In response, House of Ruth created New Pathways and Three Sisters to provide permanent supported housing to a total of 24 women who have serious mental illnesses. Three Sisters, our newest program for women, opened in November, 2009. It is located in an apartment building that was formerly occupied by five families whom we have moved to a larger site. Fourteen women now live there and get the continuing supportive services they need. All of the women have a very serious mental illness that impairs their capacity to sustain safety and stability on their own. At Three Sisters, they have the greatest possible independence, while continuing to get the ongoing support and services they need to help them sustain their safety and stability. There is no limit on the length of stay.

We also refurbished the Madison building, to provide more privacy and better spaces to work with the 50 women who are living there at any given time. Early in 2010 we began sorely needed renovations of the kitchens and bathrooms at New Beginnings and New Pathways. Unity, House of Ruth’s first home, located on Massachusetts Avenue, NW, got its facelift in 2009.

Your donations make a life-changing difference in the lives of women who had never known kindness and respect until they came to House of Ruth. Government funding to help these women is scarce, and we rely heavily on private support to fund our residential programs for them.

Learn more about The Houses of Ruth.

 

House of Ruth is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
Our mailing address is 5 Thomas Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20005.
Telephone: 202-667-7001 FAX: 202-667-7047 Email: houseofruth@houseofruth.org
Donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
Our Federal Tax ID Number is 52-1054102.