Mission & History
Founded in 1976, House of Ruth empowers women, children and families to rebuild their lives and heal from trauma, abuse and houselessness. Our continuum of services encompasses enriched housing for families and single women, trauma-informed childcare, and free counseling to empower anyone who is a survivor of trauma and abuse.
Mission: House of Ruth empowers women, children and families to rebuild their lives and heal from trauma, abuse and houselessness.
Click here to Discover our journey and explore the significant milestones we’ve achieved over the past five decades.
Our Founder
Dr. Veronica Maz, PhD, a Georgetown University sociology professor, founded House of Ruth in 1976. Her life-changing visit to Washington, D.C.’s “Skid Row” was the catalyst for the first shelter for women experiencing houselessness in our city.
House of Ruth Milestones
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2022
Kidspace begins offering multi-generational psychotherapy to children and parents.
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2022
Sandra Jackson, our President & CEO, is awarded a Washington Women of Excellence award from Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives.
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2021House of Ruth launches a new program, Stepping Forward, which provides scattered-site permanent supportive housing to adult survivors of domestic violence.
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2021
Kidspace is featured in the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative’s “Show and Tell on Equity and Justice in Early Childhood Development,” specifically developed for leaders in the child-care field who are working for equity and justice. Link to the Kidspace showcase video:
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2020
House of Ruth provides supportive housing services with appropriate adaptations based on guidance from D.C.’s Department of Health and Human Services in response to COVID-19. Kidspace is physically closed while teachers provide online support and activities to parents and re-opens by July 2020. DVSC adapts services to provide telehealth appointments. We deepen our financial and material assistance to program participants, particularly to those who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic.
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2020
House of Ruth’s President & CEO, Sandra L. Jackson, D. Min., M.S.W., LICSW, LCSW-C, is awarded Georgetown University’s 2020 “John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award” for her outstanding leadership, particularly in regards to her vision for House of Ruth’s new Kidspace child and family development center in Ward 7.
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2019
Kidspace is rated a “High Quality” child development center (the highest rating available) by D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
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2016
House of Ruth celebrates 40 years of service to the women, children and families in the D.C. area.
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2012
The Bridges Program extends House of Ruth’s supportive services to families exiting our service-enriched housing programs.
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2010
The building that housed Three Sisters is re-purposed to provide long-term, supportive housing to single women.
