House Of Ruth Maryland, Inc.

HRM leads the fight to end violence against women and children.  Serves over 13,000 annually through emergency shelter, transitional housing, counseling, legal, teen education and outreach services.  24-Hour Hotline 410-889-RUTH(7884). (United Way Central MD #143; C.MD & NCA CFCs #75849)

How do you help people in my community?

Last year, HRM provided services to nearly 13,000 Marylanders. LaRaine was one of those. Her husband put a shotgun under her chin as she slept and pulled the trigger. She stayed in our shelter as police searched for her husband after he jumped bail. Or Karen who called our hotline at four in the morning from a phone booth a mile from her house where she just ran from, clutching her four-month-old son as her husband chased them with a butcher knife. Then there was Tanya and her three children who came to our shelter after sleeping in their car for two weeks because she knew if she went home, her husband would kill them.

Why do you need my support?

There is no such thing as too small a gift to make a difference. Just five dollars a week ($260) buys one week of daycare for children in the shelter so their mom can attend appointments or look for a new place to live. That same amount pays for legal representation or crisis counseling for 3 victims of domestic violence. A donation of $1000 will buy one week of meals for women and children in the shelter.

Our mission at HRM is to prevent and eliminate violence. We do this one day, one client and one dollar at a time. We believe that in order to break the cycle of violence you must first change the attitudes and systems that permit and promote it. That’s the vision that your dollars will help support.

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

HRM has a solid record over the past thirty years of strong fiscal management. We are audited each year by the state and maintain an on staff certified public accountant. Much of our money comes from federal and private grant monies which have stringent fiscal requirements and require continual activity reporting.

Our financial activities are subject to continual monitoring by our board of directors which is comprised of many upstanding business men and women with years of experience in money management.

Can I Volunteer? How?

Volunteers are the lifeblood of HRM. There are always opportunities to do volunteer work, whether through one time group projects like landscaping or administrative assistance, or continual service as a hotline volunteer or assistant in the child care program. HRM has a group of about 100 volunteers that are working throughout the agency at any given time assisting in the legal clinic or in the shelter program. Those wishing to volunteer should contact our volunteer coordinator, Kerri Wojciechowski at 410-554-8449.