Religious orders have always played an important role in serving the needs of society, particularly that of the neglected and underserved population. At the time the House of Ruth was founded the underserved population seemed to be homeless women, especially victims of domestic violence.
The Second Vatican Council, which ended in 1965, encouraged religious women to “return to their ideas of why they were founded.” In 1976, sisters started leaving the classrooms. The Sisters of Saint Joseph were supposed to look for unmet needs and figure out the needs that were not being tended to.
In 1974 Sr. Teresa Scotino was working at St. Vincent’s Homeless Shelter in downtown LA. She did an informal survey counting the beds available for the homeless in LA County. The findings: 600 beds for men and only 12 beds for women.
At the same time, battered women syndrome was appearing in the field of social work and becoming a more talked about issue. Three Sisters of Saint Jospeh, Sr Judy Molosky, Sr. Jeanette Van Vleck, and Sr. Linda Pearson started attending conferences and workshops on battered women.
The three sisters decided they would leave their jobs as teachers and social workers to purchase a house and open up a transitional shelter for women and children. At first they considered making it a domestic violence home. However, because they were a local community of nuns, they were unable to maintain the anonymity necessary. The fourth foundress, Sr. Georgeann O'Brien, was asked by the Mother Superior to move into the House to be a mentor to the three younger sisters.
So in the beginning, a generous organization gave them the house rent free. They sat down and had to figure out ownership/maintenance issues. For example, who fixes a broken toilet? What happens if the roof falls in? They came up with informal contract and thus began the ministry.
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