This is part of a series where I highlight nonprofit organizations that are doing great work in my community. For June, we are focusing on the House of Ruth Maryland which, since 1977, has helped “women, children and families who have experienced homelessness and abuse by providing safe housing and nurturing, supportive care to help them back on their feet and toward leading stable, independent lives.”
In the US, 1 in 4 women experience sexual violence, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/domestic_violence-2020080709350855.pdf? and 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) each year, with 90% of these children becoming eyewitnesses to this violence. HTTPs://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/232272.pdf In Maryland, 34.4% of women experience IPV. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf.
That means 1 in 3 women in my community are suffering. These figures are staggering.
IPV can escalate quickly during times of high stress and disaster. During the Pandemic, more women than men have lost their jobs or had their hours cut, and many moms have gone part-time to care for their children or left the workforce completely. Those conditions, added to the close quarters life we have been living for the past year, have made IPV more common—and often more severe.
That’s why programs that support moms and children are needed more now, than ever before.
House of Ruth does more than provide shelter. They have comprehensive domestic violence centers, a 24/7 confidential victim hotline, and resources to improve job skills. In 2019, House of Ruth supported over 7800 victims, almost 600 children and trained 948 professionals.
If you are interested in supporting this wonderful cause, ways to give include in-kind donations, volunteering, providing goods and services, financial donations, and workplace giving. I first volunteered at House of Ruth when I was a teen participating in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. GAADAY program. It left a lasting impression that has stayed with me to this day.
In 2020, I made a commitment to donate up to 10% of Sidnae Global Research’s net revenue to charity. I knew the first financial donation had to go to House of Ruth Maryland.
To learn more and to donate, please visit:
