By E. Sansing
Photo by Denis Largeron
It was during volunteer work at Mother Teresa Hospice in 1992 that Ruby Corado first realized her call to service. She took inspiration from the humility of the nuns, women who had very little themselves, yet were able to give peace and love to so many who were facing death.
In 2004, Corado began working at Whitman-Walker Health with an HIV program. During her tenure, she noticed that numerous clients were not having their basic needs met; several of the clients she saw were homeless, unemployed, or mentally wounded and she wanted to offer something different.
Corado soon began advocating for homelessness and violence, emphasizing unemployment and basic human rights. She understood that the community needed something bigger than simply HIV education—it needed housing, employment and legal services. In 2004, she began Casa Ruby, the only bilingual, multicultural, LGBTQ organization that operates six days a week to provide hot meals, clothing exchange, career development, and social services in Washington, D.C. Casa Ruby will soon be providing 12 beds for LGBTQ youth.
Because of her success, compassion and dedication to the community, she has been awarded various grants as well as been a member of both of the US Attorney’s Anti-Bias Task Force and most recently, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Transition Team.
In all of her work, she is appreciative of the people who come together to help others and is an avid believer in the idea that “dreams do come true and they become even bigger when other people are dreaming with you.”
