Homes for Families
Safe housing is just the first step toward stability for a family left homeless by domestic violence. At House of Ruth, women and their children who are homeless and abused 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 building positive parenting skills with each mother helps ensure the healthy development of the children;
- Supportive groups as well as after-school and recreational activities for the children help them regain a more normal developmental path;
- One-on-one caring attention from a skilled case manager helps 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, help women and children learn to cope with the long-standing damage of abuse and trauma;
- Addiction recovery services help women stay clean and sober;
- Life skills training, one-on-one and in groups, helps each woman acquire the skills she needs;
- Financial services help women establish their budgets, clean up bad credit and begin saving.
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. All together, more than 110 families are cared for annually at House of Ruth.
Many of the mothers at House of Ruth are unprepared for employment that will allow them to support their families. Staff actively links them to education and training that will lead to a living wage.
Like their single counterparts, the women we serve in our programs for families have long histories of abuse, beginning in childhood and often including adult domestic violence. A history of addiction and/or mental illness is common among the women. Their children have been hurt by growing up in unstable, violent surroundings and often have behavioral and emotional issues.
At House of Ruth, families find the tools and opportunities they need to transform their lives, finding safety and stability. Most important of all, the families find a caring, skilled staff who are available to them around the clock to help them overcome the many challenges in their lives.
Permanent Supportive Housing
Check out the video below on Hope Rising, one of House of Ruth’s permanent supportive housing programs.
Scattered Site Programs
Be sure to watch the video below highlighting House of Ruth’s scattered site programs for women and families.