Providing Safe Housing for Nearly 50 Years
House of Ruth began as a shelter for women experiencing houselessness in 1976; at that time, it was the only shelter dedicated to serving women in D.C. It quickly became clear that many women were in need of more than just a meal and a bed.
Our housing programs assess the capacities and needs of each woman and child, so we can deliver services that meet them where they are and build on their strengths. Our goal is to create a structured and predictable environment where women and their families receive highly responsive and care attention from staff.
Homes for Single Women
House of Ruth provides housing and supportive services to women at residential programs located in Washington, D.C. All were unhoused 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.
We provide service-enriched housing to an average 102 women daily who are working toward safety, stability and self-sufficiency. Our Case Managers work to establish strong, positive relationships with each woman. Based on these relationships, women participate in a wide variety of services and supports to stabilize and acquire the skills for safer, more self-sufficient lives.
Your donations make a life-changing difference in the lives of women who may have 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.
Check out the video below to learn more about our programs for women and House of Ruth’s intake process.
Homes for Families
Safe housing is just the first step toward stability for a family left unhoused by domestic violence. At House of Ruth, women and their children who are houseless can get a full array of supportive services to heal and establish safe and stable lives:
- Intensive work on building a healthy parent-child bond and positive parenting skills to support the healthy development of their children;
- Supportive groups as well as after-school and recreational activities for their children to help them regain a promising developmental path;
- One-on-one attention from a skilled and caring case manager to help each woman set and pursue new goals, such as maintaining sobriety, achieving mental health stability, and establishing healthy habits and relationships;
- Mental health services, including ongoing therapy and support groups, to help women and children learn to cope with the long-standing damage of abuse and trauma;
- Substance use recovery services to help women stay clean and sober;
- Life skills training, both one-on-one and in groups, to help each woman acquire the skills she needs to thrive;
- Financial services to help women establish their budgets, clean up bad credit and begin saving towards their goals.
All of these services are offered in House of Ruth’s homes for families. Families living in rent-subsidized apartments get supportive services from House of Ruth through the Bridges Program and FamilySpace. Altogether, more than 110 families are cared for annually at House of Ruth.
Many of the mothers at House of Ruth are not yet prepared for employment that will allow them to fully support their families. Our staff actively links them to education and training that will lead to a family-sustaining wage.
At House of Ruth, families find the tools and opportunities they need to transform their lives, finding safety and stability. Most important of all, families find caring, skilled staff who are available to them around the clock to help them.
Permanent Supportive Housing
Scattered Site Programs
