“The mission of Sojourner House is to promote healthy relationships by providing culturally sensitive support, advocacy, housing, and education for victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking; and to effect systems change.”

About Sojourner House

Sojourner House envisions a world where everyone lives their life free from domestic and sexual abuse.

Sojourner House is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Providence residents and Brown University students who were concerned about what was then a silent epidemic: domestic and sexual violence. Thanks to the efforts of our many supporters, Sojourner House has grown from a part-time, volunteer hotline into a provider of comprehensive services available to victims of abuse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We’ve taken steps to determine how best to prioritize our future efforts to help those who are most isolated due to abuse, as well as efforts to improve systemic and institutional responses to people in abusive relationships.

Every day we receive requests for assistance from individuals in abusive relationships. Thanks to our supporters, we are able to offer support groups, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing, sexual health advocacy, emotional support, professional and community training, and more.

Our supporters make our work to end domestic and sexual violence possible. Since its incorporation in 1976, Sojourner House has served more than 60,000 individuals. 

What We Do

Our goal is to help our clients rebuild their lives, piece by piece, through a variety of services. Our prevention and education programs work within Rhode Island communities, teaching important information on domestic abuse. We also work to raise awareness on many issues related to domestic violence: teen violence, HIV/AIDS prevention, elder abuse, and LGBTQ partner abuse. For these areas, Sojourner House has created specialized services.

All our programs work from the premise that violence is an unacceptable means to solving interpersonal conflict, and we encourage only non-violent methods of working out conflicts. To learn more about our programs, please use the navigation buttons at the top.

The Story Behind the Name

Sojourner House was partly named after Sojourner Truth, the courageous 19th-century enslaved woman who later became an abolitionist, speaking on behalf of women and enslaved people as she traveled throughout the U.S. Her message of strength and freedom inspires our work. We’ve designed our programs so that our clients have many options to choose from, allowing them to build strength and independence as they recover from abuse. Additionally, our organization derives its name from our goal to give victims and survivors a place to “sojourn,” as many are enduring the most challenging period of their lives. 

Our Philosophy

Sojourner House Inc. is an agency organized to serve battered adults and their children. We embrace respect, compassion, fairness and equality in carrying out our mission. Our philosophy includes the following:

  1. We believe that everyone has a right to live and work in an environment free from abuse of any sort. In keeping with this conviction, we strive to operate a mutually supportive and non-exploitive workplace.
  2. We believe that domestic and sexual violence are rooted in a social attitude that violence is acceptable, a culture that devalues women, and a society structured by exploitation.
  3. In the conviction that individual empowerment and social change go hand-in-hand, we work toward both. By embracing the concept of self-empowerment, we encourage all clients to realize their potential to control their own lives.
  4. We value the strengths inherent in diversity of cultures, lifestyles, and ideas.

Sojourner House’s Values Statement

Sojourner House is committed to empowering our staff and clients, by fostering growth and resiliency through compassionate services and effective partnerships, with a shared vision of community.