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Ruah Community Services operates under the auspices of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. This tradition of service began in Paris in 1633 when Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul founded the Daughters of Charity, a community of women dedicated to caring for the sick and needy in a society ravaged by war and misery. This small group grew into what is today a world-wide Congregation of women in the Catholic Christian tradition. In 1956 the Daughters of Charity began their mission in WA when four sisters arrived. Two of them began working in the local parish community of Northbridge engaging with homeless people on the streets. This set the scene for the services which were subsequently established.
On the 7th July 1959 the first service, a meal/day centre for adults with needs related to homelessness, was established in Fitzgerald Street. It moved to its current location in Shenton Street in 1963. In 1961 a community of three Daughters of Charity moved into a house on Aberdeen Street in Northbridge and opened up a Night Shelter for Women, a forerunner of women's refuges that emerged in subsequent years. These original works of the Daughters remain programs of Ruah today in its homeless service division (Ruah Centre and Ruah Refuge). Their history is characterised by service models that have undergone continuous development over the years. The Tradition of Service Continued... In the 1990s significant developments occurred which have given shape to the organisation today. In 1990 the Daughters of Charity began the process of employing lay managers in its services with the appointment of two non-Daughters of Charity to operate and manage the Ruah Centre in Northbridge. In 1994, Daughters of Charity Services (WA) - a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee - was registered under corporations law to manage the growing works of the Congregation in Perth. This company is auspiced by the Daughters of Charity and governed by a local Board of Directors. The decade was also characterised by the gradual development of key cultural components which have become the signature of the organisation today. These components include contemporary vision and mission statements, a set of five core values, key directions and strategic frameworks, and an inclusive spirituality paradigm. This decade also saw the organisation enter the mental health field of service delivery, although it had played a strong advocacy role with government in the preceding years by highlighting the need for a community based service for people living with mental illness. For the first time the organisation commenced working in regions outside inner-city Perth with a mobile psychosocial support model. This marked the beginning of a new wave of service delivery for the organisation. Ruah Inreach Mental Health's original mobile service model laid the foundation for the organisation's subsequent expansion and today is Ruah's largest program area. In 2001, Daughters of Charity Services (WA) adopted Ruah Community Services for its working name. Ruah is an ancient Hebrew word meaning 'wind', 'breath', 'Spirit of Life'. The name was chosen to honour the spiritual tradition of the organisation and reflect a future that incorporates an 'inclusive spirituality' in its mission. The turn of the century also saw significant growth in service programs and developmental projects in the homeless and mental health fields, specialist work with women coming out of prison and people in chaotic lifestyles living with HIV/AIDS. Ruah also ventured into the area of employment for marginalised people with the Big Issue and Ruah Workright - a specialist job placement agency. In 2006 the Daughters of Charity/Ruah Community Services celebrated fifty years of service in WA. The occasion was marked with a commitment to pursue environmental sustainability in the mission and practice of the organisation. It committed to reduce the ecological footprint of the organisation and offset its generation of greenhouse gases. The year 2006 was also significant in that it was the moment in history when the last Daughter of Charity worked within the organisation. A Daughter of Charity remains on the Board of Directors. Ruah is committed to building its responsiveness to the needs of Indigenous people and in July 2007 welcomed the transfer to it of the Anawim Aboriginal Women's Refuge from the auspice of the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth. July 2007 was also significant for the organisation as there was a change with first Chief Executive retiring after 17.5 years of service. The Tradition of service continues... Ruah's services remain intentionally directed to people who are particularly disadvantaged, expanding into new areas of work and new service models. Today these services support people to:
Today Ruah is a medium-size non-government organisation in Perth with around 140 staff and a turnover of $8.8 million. In its 50 years of operation it has consistently delivered quality services with a developmental edge and has enjoyed the respect of various client groups, other service providers and multiple Commonwealth and State Government departments. Ruah is committed to working in partnership with people marginalised by mainstream society to enable them to overcome their disadvantage, improve the quality of their lives, enhance their spirit and participate more fully in the community. Ruah is also committed to advocacy in areas of social policy to improve the social fabric of our society. Ruah begins by building a relationship with the people we work with, focusing on their strengths to increase their skills, confidence and capacities so they can deal with the complications in their lives. At the same time we remain committed to providing grassroots, professional and easy to access services; to walk and work alongside the individual or family in a genuine partnership of solidarity. Ruah seeks to make a difference and actively encourages both workers and clients to be agents of change and of hope for the better. Ruah continuously seeks improvement and innovation in the provision of service to the community.
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