House of Ruth

Provides housing and comprehensive services to more than 600 women and children daily in the DC area to help them overcome homelessness, domestic violence and extreme poverty.

How do you help people in my community?

House of Ruth is the largest provider in Washington, DC, of housing and comprehensive supportive services to women and children who are homeless and abused.  We are also the largest provider of counseling for women who are dealing with or have experienced domestic violence.  Our Domestic Violence Support Center provides free counseling to more than 400 women a year.

If you care about the plight of women and children who are homeless, very poor, and abused, then a gift to House of Ruth is a great way to translate your concern into concrete action.

Why do you need my support?

Individual gifts are the lifeblood of House of Ruth, accounting for nearly half of our revenues.  The rest comes from competitive government grants and contracts.

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

90% of our expenditures go to direct services, with only 10% for management, operations and fund-raising.  110 of our 116 staff work directly with the women and children, with only six people handling program management, finance, fundraising, personnel, computers and other equipment, and operations.

Even more important, we will invest your gift in an approach that works.  We don’t address just part of a woman’s or a family’s problems.  We look at the whole picture and bring together the resources to help that individual or family make all the changes necessary to achieve safe and stable lives. 

We’re also honest – with you and with ourselves.  We don’t always succeed and we don’t pretend that we do, so we are never satisfied and always trying to improve.  That’s where 17 years of measuring outcomes at all of our programs comes into play.  We look at the actual changes in behavior the women and children are achieving in order to measure their progress and pinpoint the areas where we can improve.  We keep on top of the latest research in our field and train our staff in using proven, new techniques.

Can I Volunteer? How?

Due to the confidentiality of our program locations and the intensive training required to work with women and children who are survivors of complex trauma, House of Ruth no longer offers volunteer opportunities.

The best way to help the women and children at House of Ruth is with your financial donation.  Your gift will help us provide housing and services to more than 600 women and children daily at 13 locations in the city.  All are battling homelessness, extreme poverty and abuse.