Ruth Harbor was founded in 1996 by three women who believed God called them to provide a safe place for a young woman when she decided to continue her pregnancy but before she gave birth.

Ruth Harbor opened its doors and welcomed its first maternity residents at the Des Moines home in 2001.

After years of serving young moms facing unplanned pregnancies, we began to recognize another “gap” that needed to be filled – young moms who have chosen to parent and are struggling to thrive and provide a quality life for their children.

In 2016, we started a Mother-Child Program and also began accepting young moms who were parenting one young child.

Purchase of the second home in Carlisle, Iowa

In the fall of 2017, Ruth Harbor was approached by Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey (parents of the “McCaughey Septuplets”) to prayerfully consider purchasing the family home they had loved for nearly 20 years but had outgrown its need.

After much prayer and discernment, touring the home, meeting with the McCaughey’s neighbors, and working with the city of Carlisle to have rezoning approved, in February 2018, we signed an agreement to purchase the McCaughey’s home in Carlisle, Iowa.

This purchase allowed us to open a full-time Mother-Child Program at a second home, returning the original Des Moines home back into a full-time Maternity Program.

Not only did purchasing the Carlisle home provide more beds and enable us to serve more women and babies, but it also allowed us to dedicate each home to the specific needs and training unique to each program.