About Us

Mission

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Founded in 1976, House of Ruth helps women, children and families in greatest need and with very limited resources build safe, stable lives and achieve their highest potential. At House of Ruth, women, children and families heal from lifetimes of traumatic abuse.

At our 14 programs in Washington, D.C., we assess the capacities and needs of each woman and child, then design and deliver a specialized combination of services to meet their specific needs and build on their strengths. We enfold the women and families in an environment that is safe, structured and predictable and where they receive highly responsive and caring attention from the staff.

Every year at House of Ruth, more than 1,000 women and children work hard to learn the skills to live independently so they can eliminate homelessness and abuse from their lives. House of Ruth provides housing and services for 63 families and 109 single women; supportive services to 21 families housed in apartments throughout the city; developmental day care to 76 children and supportive services for their parents; and free counseling for more than 400 women a year who are dealing with or recovering from domestic violence.

Vision

Our vision is to enable the largest number of people we serve to achieve stable housing, trauma recovery, mental health, addiction recovery, employment and abuse-free relationships.  To achieve this vision House of Ruth will:

  • Sustain an unwavering focus on our mission, principles and vision and the women, children and families we serve.
  • Seek continuous improvement by identifying and incorporating proven interventions and locating and employing staff and clinicians with specialized skills.
  • Achieve measurable successes by identifying and employing strategies to fully engage participants in the positive change process.
  • Increase staff’s effectiveness in consistently using proven interventions.