Provides housing and comprehensive services to 600 women and children daily in the DC area to help them overcome homelessness, domestic violence and extreme poverty. 33 years experience.
Why do we exist?
House of Ruth exists to help women, children and families in Washington, DC, who are homeless and abused to achieve stability, safety and the greatest possible self-sufficiency. We focus on serving people who have the fewest available resources.
The women are extremely poor, most did not graduate from high school and have no job skills, and often have untreated mental illness and/or addictions. They live in extreme poverty and, even worse, isolation -- with no supportive network of family and friends. They have a lifelong history of abuse, beginning in childhood and continuing into their adult years in the form of domestic violence. The children have been raised in chaotic surroundings and have developmental disabilities and behavioral and emotional difficulties. Despite their tragic pasts, the women and children possess resiliency, courage and a commitment to change their lives.
Your financial help, combined with our uniquely effective approach and expertise, provides the resources these women, children and families need to achieve safety, stability and self-sufficiency. Their victories over poverty and abuse enrich us all.
What have you accomplished?
Every day we help more than 600 women and children at 13 locations in Washington, DC. They are all are recovering from homelessness and abuse. Our case managers, counselors and life skills trainers help the women and families plan their paths to stability and independence and then assist them in implementing their plans. Over the course of the year, we will help at least 1,000 people achieve much greater safety and stability.
At House of Ruth women and children find housing in nurturing settings, caring staff who work with them every day, and a comprehensive array of support services that enable them to rebuild lives shattered by poverty and violence. We deliver housing and an array of supportive services to families and individual women at eleven sites in the District of Columbia. We also operate a therapeutic day care center for children ages six weeks through six years from families that are recovering from homelessness, and the Domestic Violence Support Center providing vital assistance to 400 women annually who are struggling to cope with and recover from domestic violence.
We measure the progress of each individual toward the goals in his or her recovery plan. In addition, we monitor the results of our efforts with each group of people served at each House of Ruth location. These outcome measurements allow us to continually refine our approach and measure the impact of our work. Approximately 80% of the people served at House of Ruth are able to make significant progress toward achieving safety, stability and avoiding future homelessness. We know, because we follow up with them for a year after they leave us.
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