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HouseLine
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Debbie Saag
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HouseLine
Inside
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Cover Story: Advocating and Supporting Children
Donation Drive Fills the House Trunk or Treat
PAGE 3
Letter from the Executive Director
Special Thanks Save the Dates
The Future is Bright Honor Roll
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Fostering Safer Communities
FOSTERING SAFER COMMUNITIES THROUGH SHARED IDEAS
House of Ruth Maryland, in collaboration with the Maryland Safe Futures Collaborative, has launched Salus –a virtual community of practice, resource clearinghouse and online learning platform, aimed to connect a national community of service providers supporting victims of intimate partner violence.
“Salus strengthens efforts to promote peace and support the health and safety of communities impacted by intimate partner violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking by amplifying the voices of practitioners who have been doing great work in crisis response, abuse prevention and victim empowerment,” said Lisa Nitsch, director of training and education for House of Ruth Maryland. “Salus is a collaborative knowledge center, built by House of Ruth Maryland, that enables service providers to learn and share best practices on three core competencies – Prevention, Response and Empowerment.”
The Prevention Center provides insights on early
intervention programs designed to intercept or de-escalate violence and build the capacity of individuals and families to regulate their emotions and behaviors without violence. The Response Center offers resources and best practices about successful models for shelter care, including offering an effective front door for victims and first responders, how to support victims in crisis and strategies to ensure victims receive warm handoffs to safe house shelters or specialty care facilities. The Empowerment Center offers practices on post-crisis services that support and empower survivors on their journey to improve self-sufficiency and break the cycle of violence in families. House of Ruth Maryland serves as the Knowledge Center, known as Salus, which combines the resources and expertise of the Maryland Safe Futures Collective to distribute best practices and standards of care for victims.
Visit www.saluscommunity.org to learn more and watch the Salus Welcome Webinar series on-demand.
Administrative Office: (443) 569-0440
Legal Services: (410) 554-8463 (888) 880-7884
Maryland Relay: 711
Website: www.hruth.org
Facebook: facebook.com/ houseofruthmaryland
Twitter: @houseofruthmd
Instagram: @hruthmd
Advocating and Supporting Children Impacted by Intimate Partner Violence
Children exposed to intimate partner violence experience fear, anxiety, depression, guilt, confusion, blame, anger and a myriad of other short- and long-term behavioral, emotional and physical issues. Children who witness violence are also at a greater risk to repeat the cycle of abuse – by either entering into an abusive relationship or becoming the abusive partner themselves.
House of Ruth Maryland is steadfast and fearless in advocating for the needs of the sometimes forgotten victims and voices, such as the children who witness violence in their homes and community around them.
The impact of witnessing violence at a young age: Story from a survivor
“I remember when I was young, my brothers and I witnessed a fight between my parents that ended up with my mother having a welt on her face. The police came and then they went away. At that time, we didn’t talk about it. I remember feeling so helpless. I asked myself, ‘Why wouldn’t anyone do anything?’” said an anonymous House of Ruth Maryland advisor and child survivor of intimate partner violence.
This survivor’s mother was abused by his father when he was growing up in the 1970s. They were an immigrant family and under a tremendous amount of stress from moving to the U.S. and acclimating to life far away from their home. His mother stayed at home to take care of him and his siblings while his father worked. “During that time, there were not as many resources for victims,” the survivor explains, as his mother couldn’t afford childcare – let alone the money to hire a lawyer – to get out of a violent situation. Cont. on page 2
Executive Director
Sandi Timmins
Director of Development Justice Schisler
Cassie Kelly, Alison Cooley, Kenia Thomas, Sophia Benitez-Cuffee
It was a feeling of hopelessness and isolation most women and their children face when trying to escape physical, mental, emotional, financial, sexual and verbal abuse.
“I wish we had the depth and breadth of resources House of Ruth Maryland provides to victims of intimate partner violence when I was younger,” the survivor added. “It would have helped us find freedom and safety.”
Giving victims – and their children – the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear
“Witnessing and experiencing violence can have a very frightening effect on children of all ages,” said Asjoure Brown, Director of Clinical Services for House of Ruth Maryland. “House of Ruth Maryland’s comprehensive Children’s Program is dedicated to serving the needs of children both in our residential setting and in the community.”
House of Ruth Maryland helps children of all ages affected by intimate partner violence through our community-based children and youth services including clinical assessments, therapeutic services and safety planning – all of which are based on trauma-informed care.
“Our therapeutic services include individual, group and family therapy utilizing therapeutic play, drama, art and stories,” said Brown. “KIDSPACE, a program developed by House of Ruth Maryland for children between the ages of 8 and 12, involves weekly sessions that address topics such as self-knowledge, self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-esteem and self-actualization in a way that children can learn, understand and apply in their lives.”
The Weinberg Child Development Center is licensed by the Maryland State Department of Education and staffed by credentialed childcare professionals. These essential staff members not only receive specialized training in intimate partner violence and trauma but also work closely with both parents and therapists in the child’s healing journey.
Supporting children and youth impacted by intimate partner violence in and across Maryland
House of Ruth Maryland’s vision is “Every community member recognizes intimate partner violence and has the knowledge and tools to respond in a way that supports victim safety and insists the abusive partner changes behavior,” said Sandi Timmins, Executive Director of House of Ruth Maryland.
One of the many ways we have honored this commitment was through the creation of the “Supporting Students Affected by Intimate Partner Violence” professional development training course for the Maryland State Department of Education. The course, which was created in a partnership with LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope, is available to all Maryland state educators, administrators and staff serving all grade levels. The curriculum, developed by the House of Ruth Maryland Training Institute, covers the dynamics of intimate partner violence and how it impacts children and youth. Topics covered include how to identify signs of violence, requirements and relevant state laws for reporting abuse, the 10 common adverse childhood experiences relating to child abuse, neglect and household dysfunction and its effect on healthy development and how educators can support students who have witnessed or experienced violence in their homes.
“It is our mission to end violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate it, and by providing victims with the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear,” said Timmins. “Our children’s and youth services are comprehensive and we continue to evolve our programs to meet the needs of the children impacted by violence. The combination of children and youth services, therapy and daycare, coupled with our commitment to educating professionals and community members who work with children about how intimate partner violence affects their development, strengthens this vision and helps House of Ruth Maryland lead the fight to eliminate violence once and for all.”
Donation Drive Fills the House
Each October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, House of Ruth Maryland proudly teams up with WMAR 2 News, People’s Bank 1864, Weis Markets Towson, 100.7 The Bay and Von Paris Moving & Storage for our annual Fill the House donation drive. Members of the community come out to the support House of Ruth Maryland by donating diapers, wipes, baby food, bedding, new undergarments and other everyday essential items for our clients as they begin rebuilding their lives. We are always amazed by the outpouring of support each year and this year was no exception. Thanks to our generous donors, we once again “filled the house” and the Von Paris Moving truck to capacity to bring essential items to victims and their children.
Trunk or Treat
On October 28, 2021, House of Ruth Maryland staff hosted a Trunk or Treat for our clients. Clients and their children were able to participate in the beloved fall tradition of Trick or Treating in a safe, outdoor and fun environment. While the kids enjoyed their favorite candies, spooky tunes, face painting and chasing around our resident House of Ruth Maryland dinosaur (our CFO in costume!), moms were able to pick up gift bags full of beauty products, planners and a new purse. The Trunk or Treat event gave us the opportunity to provide a sense of normalcy and happiness to clients during a year full of challenges.
Letter from the Executive Director
Well, 2021 has been another unique year. While I’m sure I am not alone in eagerly awaiting the health and safety of our community to be restored, we know that the effects of the pandemic will last well into the future. This is particularly true for the many parents and children House of Ruth Maryland serves. As we come to what we hope is the end of this Covid time, we remain committed to moving forward. We are grateful for the positive changes that have taken place over the last 18 months, and we will work hard to ensure they continue.
When the stay at home order was issued, it was critical that people facing lethal harm from their abusive partners had access to safe shelter and resources. Our emergency shelter continued with full operation, and our team made sure services would continue –and expand – to reach intimate partner violence victims in need. House of Ruth Maryland immediately shifted engagement strategies to include remote access on secure platforms, including telehealth, virtual groups and a 24-hour chat line for survivors. Many were forced to be at home with their abusive partners for longer periods of time, and reaching out to us became more challenging. The increased accessibility of our services continues to be vital in ensuring our clients can reach our crisis response, stability, safety and empowerment services.
Our community has always been ready with whatever support we need, and true to form, you were there during this most difficult time. It’s been amazing. Now we are excited to safely bring back all of our wonderful, dedicated volunteers. All I can say is thank you. Most sincerely, thank you. I’m inspired by your generosity, and your compassion for the people who need our help.
As we head into the holiday season, all of us at House of Ruth Maryland are wishing you wonderful times spent with the people who are important to you. Thanks to your support, the people we serve will also have an opportunity for safety and peace.
With
appreciation,
Sandi Timmins, Executive Director
Special Thanks To:
• Ellen Ivey, Ruth’s Closet’s top customer, for her generous donations and bringing in new customers to shop with a purpose.
• Ruth’s Closet volunteers working in the store and in our warehouse helping transform donations into merchandise.
• Melissa Walker, Hailey Klebe, and the entire KCW Engineering Technologies, Inc. team and local business community for helping us sort donations from Fill the House and other events
• Tere Geckle for donating beautiful purses and 2022 planners for dozens of clients.
• Amy Gutberlet, Jennifer Fischer, and the team at BGE for inviting House of Ruth Maryland to present at their recent conference and for hosting another virtual holiday drive.
• The team at Walden University for hosting a donation drive in honor of domestic violence awareness month through our online wish list.
• Hunt Valley Lands’ End team for hosting a much needed coat drive for our clients.
• The Linthicum SECU team for donating essential items to our clients as part of their #SECUKindess Campaign.
• Everyone who sponsored, donated and volunteered at our annual Fill the House event.
Because of your generous donations, volunteer work and support, we are able to accomplish so much. Thank you!
House of Ruth Maryland Non-profit Leadership Series First Tuesday of January-April 2022. Register at www.hruth.org/leadership-series.
Spring Luncheon: Virtual and In-Person April 21, 2022. Registration coming soon.
New Donor Challenge Grant Late Winter 2022. Details coming soon.
We Honor All Those Who Stand With Us To Shine A Light On Intimate Partner Violence
House of Ruth Maryland greatly appreciates the support of those who share our vision of dignity, respect and safety for all. We also appreciate those who donate and choose to remain anonymous. Thank you to all of our donors for your generosity and commitment. This year, our Honor Roll list can be found online, at www.hruth.org/honor.
THE FUTURE IS SMILING BRIGHT
The excitement in a child’s eyes when they lose a tooth, carefully place it under a pillow and wake up excited to see if the Tooth Fairy has visited is pure joy. We were so delighted to receive an email from a donor letting us know their donation was from their daughter, who wanted to donate her tooth fairy money to House of Ruth Maryland’s shelter. It’s stories like this that bring big smiles to our faces knowing small donations made by generous children can make a big impact in the lives in the families under our care.
Sandi Timmins