House of Ruth, Inc.

Our vision is a violence free world where every home is a safe home. Our goal is to eradicate domestic violence by using both intervention and prevention strategies, with the goal of ending the cycle of violence often passed down in families and communities. Domestic violence brings up an array of emotions like fear of leaving the abusive partner, low self-worth and confidence, shame of staying in the relationship, and feeling isolated with little support. House of Ruth provides a safe space for clients to process complex emotions while removing barriers to safety and self-sufficiency. Although we do not define success for our clients, our objective for every survivor is to leave House of Ruth feeling empowered, safe, and free from abuse.

Entering into the 2020-2021 fiscal year, House of Ruth finalized our new strategic plan to guide us through the next three years. The core strategic planning committee made up of executive leadership, board members, and staff developed this plan based on critical feedback from clients, staff, and community partners. The four priorities developed include: ensuring inclusivity and intentional services to clients; retaining staff to ensure mission delivery; strengthening community partnerships; and improving our financial health. Action items we will take in the next year to achieve these priorities are met include: performing an agency cultural responsiveness assessment and conducting a training workshop series for all agency personnel; exploring a professional development benefit option for staff annually; establishing alliances with additional community based organizations that offer services beyond House of Ruth’s competencies; and evaluating fundraising strategies with the goal of decreasing our fundraising efficiency ratio by 5%. Below are detailed objectives for each priority that we aim to achieve in the next 3 years:

Priority 1: Inclusivity and Intentional Services to All Identities
- Shift the organization’s language, culture, and perception of the populations we serve to be more inclusive in client services.
- Assess capacity to provide whole family services, including to people who harm.
- Ensure all groups of people representing House of Ruth reflect diverse identities to better serve all clients within the community.

Priority 2: People as a Priority
- Improve work/life balance to become the employer of choice.
- Invest in board development.
- Maximize staff efficiency/roles.
- Improve training and development processes.

Priority 3: Community Partnerships
- Strengthen outreach and awareness efforts in the community.
- Enrich current programs through improved community partnerships to better serve marginalized people.
- Build strong community partnerships to improve awareness of, and education about, our mission in the community.
- Develop a brand strategy to ensure that communication to the greater community reflects a clear message of who we are and what programs we offer.

Priority 4: Financial Health
- Improve overall financial health and stewardship.
- Enhance fundraising strategies to ensure organizational sustainability.
- Improve processes and systems to lower overall risks and provide high levels of efficiency and cost effectiveness in all operational areas.
- Collaborate across agency departments.

Since 1977 House of Ruth has served survivors of domestic violence and their families. We will continue to improve and expand our services using evidence-based practices, trauma-informed and survivor-centered strategies, until we eradicate domestic violence.

Throughout the 2019-2020 fiscal year, even in the midst of a global pandemic, House of Ruth responded to 1,918 hotline calls on our 24-hour crisis line, providing crisis counseling, referrals, and shelter assessments. House of Ruth provided 325 individuals with emergency shelter, transitional housing, or permanent housing, resulting in increased feelings of safety and self-sufficiency. We assisted 897 individuals with counseling or case management services to develop plans to meet their unique goals, resulting in increased feelings of confidence and empowerment. In addition, we and facilitated over 200 workshops to teenagers and adults about healthy relationships and domestic violence, resulting in greater knowledge and awareness of domestic violence and resources for help in the community.