PEA Group Celebrates Pride Month: Ruth Ellis Center
Pictured above: Ruth Ellis, 1998
Founded in 1999, Ruth Ellis Center is named after prominent Detroit LGBTQ+ member Ruth Ellis, who provided shelter and support to those in the Detroit LTBTQ+ community. Born in 1899, Ruth came out as a lesbian in 1915, and in the 1930s, Ruth became active in providing support to fellow LGBTQ+ members. She opened her home to those in need of help, providing them shelter until they were able to get back on their feet.
Since opening its door, Ruth Ellis Center has been committed to upholding Ruth’s selfless dedication to the LGBTQ+ community. The Center has developed a national reputation for both innovation and quality in its support services for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, particularly young people of color, those involved with the child welfare system, those who may be experiencing homelessness, and those who may have limited access to health and wellbeing.
Ruth Ellis Center’s services include a street outreach program, foster home, drop-in center, and a health and wellness center. As of recent, the Center is developing a new 44,000 square foot development, the Ruth Ellis Clairmount Center, on four vacant lots on Clairmont in Detroit. The new 66-acre development will contain 43 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless or at-risk LGBTQ+ youth.
PEA Group is providing civil engineering, landscape architecture, surveying, and geotechnical engineering for the Ruth Ellis Clairmount Center, which broke ground in November of 2020. To learn more about PEA Group’s involvement with this remarkable project, see here.
Learn more about the Ruth Ellis Center.