House of Ruth

What House of Ruth does

House of Ruth Maryland is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social services organization founded in May 1977 in Baltimore, Maryland, dedicated to ending intimate partner violence (IPV) through a dual-sided model: comprehensive services for survivors and accountability-based intervention for those who use abuse. The organization serves survivors of IPV in Baltimore City and three Maryland counties (Baltimore County, Prince George's County, Montgomery County), delivering wraparound services through an 84-bed emergency shelter with 23 rooms and 6 transitional housing units, a Rapid Re-Housing program (Safe Homes), trauma-informed counseling for adults and children, free legal representation at six courthouse locations, a licensed Weinberg Child Development Center (ages 6 weeks to 5 years), and a 24-hour crisis hotline and chatline (410-889-7884). Operational scale in FY2024 reached 11,365 individuals supported, with FY2025 throughput including 733 individuals sheltered, 2,277 survivors receiving legal advice/services, 2,606 hotline/chatline assists, and 439 survivors/children receiving trauma-informed counseling.

The Gateway Project, the organization's 28-week Abuse Intervention Program launched in 1978 and rebranded in 2004, is a distinctive accountability-focused curriculum co-facilitated in 90-minute group sessions and developed over 15 years with input from leading national practitioners. The program serves individuals referred through Maryland criminal and civil courts. Ancillary products include a Danger Assessment interactive tool, a Safety Planning resource hub, the HRM Storytellers program of trained survivor advocates, and the Training Institute - which now extends nationally via Salus, an online learning platform offering self-paced and live instructor-led courses on IPV, teen dating violence, and nonprofit management. Ruth's Closet, an upscale resale boutique in Owings Mills opened January 2011, functions as the organization's first social enterprise.

The business model is donation-funded rather than revenue-generating: all direct client services are provided free of charge, with financial support drawn from individual donations, corporate matching gifts, Donor Advised Funds (T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard), estate/planned giving (via FreeWill), in-kind contributions, event-based fundraising (Crabaret, Fill the House, Adopt a Family, Sip Savor & Support), and minor earned-revenue streams from training fees ($450 community engagement honorarium; $300/hour governmental training) and Ruth's Closet sales. The organization is governed by a 23-member Board of Directors and led by Executive Director Katie Allston, LCSW-C (effective February 16, 2026), who succeeded Sandi Timmins after Timmins's 25-year tenure concluding December 1, 2025. Legal aid delivery is anchored by the Baltimore City Mayor's Office of Human Services via the Victim Coordinated Entry program and by long-standing court relationships in six Maryland jurisdictions.

Name

House of Ruth

Legal name

House of Ruth Maryland

Website

https://hruth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

House of Ruth Maryland is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1977 that provides emergency shelter, legal aid, counseling, rapid re-housing, and abuse-intervention services to survivors of intimate partner violence across Baltimore City and three Maryland counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Domestic Violence and Social Services

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Temporary Shelters (624221), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Domestic violence services
• Emergency shelter
• Trauma counseling
• Abuse intervention
• Community education

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Monetary donations from individuals including check donations, credit card donations, and stock donations. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with Tax ID Number 52-1100236.
2. Corporate Matching Gifts: Many companies offer matching gift programs to match employee contributions dollar for dollar, with some doubling or tripling the gift amount.
3. Donor Advised Funds: Donors can recommend grants directly to House of Ruth Maryland through DAFs with T. Rowe Price Charitable, Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, or other sponsoring organizations.
4. Estate/Planned Giving: Bequests and legacy gifts through partnerships with FreeWill for online estate planning.
5. Training Fees: Training Institute provides community education and professional development training. Typical community engagement honorarium is $450; governmental training fees are $300 per hour.
6. In-Kind Donations: Donated goods including clothing, household items, personal hygiene products, and food are distributed to survivors. Ruth's Closet is a social enterprise upscale resale boutique.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

House of Ruth Maryland is a nonprofit social services organization that delivers comprehensive, free services to survivors of intimate partner violence—including emergency shelter, rapid re-housing, trauma-informed counseling, free legal representation, children's services, and 24-hour crisis hotline support—alongside community education, professional training, and an accountability-based abuse intervention program (The Gateway Project) across Baltimore City and three Maryland counties.

Product overview

House of Ruth Maryland is a nonprofit social services organization offering a comprehensive suite of programs for survivors of intimate partner violence. The core portfolio includes emergency shelter and transitional housing, rapid re-housing (Safe Homes), counseling, free legal services, and children's services. Additional programs include The Gateway Project (abuse intervention), 24-hour crisis hotlines, danger assessment tools, safety planning resources, and the Training Institute (Salus) for professional education. The organization also operates Ruth's Closet as a social enterprise boutique. All services are designed to provide wraparound support for survivors to rebuild their lives safely.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emergency Shelter A 23-room facility with 84 beds providing short-term safe haven for individuals and families in imminent danger from intimate partner violence, including 6 transitional housing units. Services are free to survivors.
• Safe Homes Rapid Re-Housing

Quantifiable outcome

• 11,365 individuals supported in FY2024
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Baltimore Museum of Art Mobile MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2016The Baltimore Museum of Art's Mobile Museum spent 5 weeks with House of Ruth Maryland, conducting art activities around dreams, magic, and community for clients and their children.
• Ruth's ClosetminorOthers · 7 January 2011First social enterprise by House of Ruth Maryland, opened January 7, 2011. Upscale resale boutique featuring new and gently used donations providing clothing and household items to survivors while generating revenue.
• Center for Urban FamiliescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 1999, a cross-referral partnership with CUF's responsible fatherhood and employment programs. Executive Director Joe Jones and Dr. Johnny Rice influenced the Gateway Project's approach to poverty, unemployment, community violence, and lack of hope in Baltimore communities.
• Dr. Oliver J. WilliamsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRetired Director of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Mentored and encouraged Gateway Project staff throughout redesign and curriculum development.
• Dr. Fernando MederosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpertise in fatherhood provided invaluable resources for the parenting section of the Gateway Project curriculum and content focusing on the impact of witnessing and experiencing violence on children.
• Emerge Model (Cambridge, Massachusetts)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrought structure needed for Gateway participants to thrive; influenced program design.
• Domestic Abuse Intervention Program (Duluth, Minnesota)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPower & Control conceptual model provided invaluable visual tool and is grounded in strong history of community-based participatory research.
• Alternatives to Domestic Aggression (Ann Arbor, Michigan)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRightly challenged Gateway Project's policies and taught staff to create policy with more focused intention.
• Manalive Violence Intervention Program (San Francisco, California)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpoke to concept of masculinity in a way staff had never seen but greatly appreciated; influenced program approach.
• Men Stopping ViolenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided philosophy and model about institutional oppressions essential to the Gateway Project's work.
• Family Peace Initiative (Topeka, Kansas)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreated the River of Cruelty model which staff felt captured their own experience; influenced curriculum development.
• Johns Hopkins School of NursingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth clinic within shelter is staffed by Johns Hopkins School of Nursing students and personnel.
• Baltimore City Mayor's Office of Human Services (MOHS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner in the Victim Coordinated Entry (VCE) program, a single point of access for survivors seeking housing support in Baltimore City.
• Law Enforcement PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) with law enforcement to identify individuals at highest risk and connect them to life-saving services.
• Family Justice Center (Prince George's County)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-agency, multi-disciplinary organization serving needs of people impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and elder abuse. House of Ruth Maryland provides services at this center.
• Family Justice Center (Montgomery County)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-agency center where House of Ruth Maryland provides Legal and Counseling services alongside other victim services organizations.
• Art with a HeartminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt classes provided to shelter residents as part of enrichment and community-building activities.
• FreeWillminorGTM or Marketing PartnerOnline estate planning platform partnership allowing supporters to create wills and include House of Ruth Maryland in their estate plans at no cost.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• YWCA USA: National nonprofit network operating DV shelters, advocacy, and racial justice programs across many U.S. cities; comparable as a multi-service DV and survivor support provider but with a much broader social-justice mandate.
• Futures Without Violence: National DV policy, training, and resource organization cited as a partner in House of Ruth's training programs; comparable through training, public education, and policy influence but not direct service delivery.

Direct peers

• Safe Horizon: New York-based nonprofit providing DV and IPV shelters, hotlines, counseling, legal, and court-based services; directly comparable comprehensive wraparound IPV service model though concentrated in a different metro.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: Operates the 24/7 national DV hotline, live chat, and referral network; directly comparable crisis-access channel that competes for awareness and survivor engagement with House of Ruth's hotline and chatline.
• SafeHouse Center: Michigan-based DV nonprofit offering emergency shelter, counseling, advocacy, and abuser intervention; comparable wraparound service mix and abuser accountability programming in a regional market.
• The SAFE Alliance: Austin/Travis County IPV and sexual assault service provider offering shelter, forensic exams, legal, and counseling; comparable comprehensive co-located service model in a different region.
• Cornerstone (Minnesota): Minnesota DV nonprofit providing emergency shelter, housing, youth services, and community education; comparable regional wraparound DV provider with similar program mix.
• Sojourner Family Peace Center: Milwaukee-based co-located DV center bringing shelter, law enforcement, prosecution, and child welfare together; comparable integrated Family Justice Center model serving a single metro.

Regional players

• Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA): Regional DV nonprofit serving the DC/Maryland/Virginia Jewish community with counseling, case management, and education; comparable services but geographically and demographically narrower.
• TurnAround Inc. Baltimore-area DV and sexual assault services provider offering counseling, advocacy, and prevention education; directly comparable service overlap within the same Maryland market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/houseofruthmd
• Facebookfacebook.com/houseofruthmaryland
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/house-of-ruth-maryland

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about House of Ruth