"Art in Bloom" at the MFA

Learn more about "Art in Bloom" here on the MFA website.

RIA's Story

"It all started in December 2012 when a small group of local women attended a meeting to learn more about the buying and selling of people for sex and how we might organize to help. As a first step in understanding the experiences of adult women and the resources available to them, we conducted a community readiness assessment from January through May 2013 which identified the dramatic needs and gaps in services across the regions of MetroWest and Central Massachusetts.

One year later, RIA House, Inc. -ready • inspire • act – was born as a 501(c)3 public charity organization.

In August of that year, we invested our fundraising from local individuals, clubs and churches into hiring our first part-time staff person to lead women’s support groups in downtown Worcester and downtown Framingham. What a fantastic moment that was in the birth of an organization! We are eternally grateful to the women who attended those first groups, and to the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of MA, First Parish Church of Acton and Stow, The 200 Foundation, Pathways for Change, The United Way of TriCounty, Everyday Miracles, our Board, Advisory Team and so many other special individuals, survivors, and families that made our work possible back then.

Since then, we have grown our fundraising and strengthened our service delivery model by launching our signature program, Sisters Leading Sisters the latter part of 2015. By mid-2016, we opened our first office space in MetroWest and then through a generous donor, our second office space in the Central region. Our work continues to be made possible through the awesome giving of individuals, families, churches, local and private foundations, and some federal funding as well.

We are a passionate group of women with powerful lived experiences, clinical and other specialized training, and allies to the cause. We thank you for learning more about our work.

In January 2021 and in honor of human trafficking awareness month, we launched a branding campaign to better tell the story of the work we do every day. We are incredibly grateful to the Foundation of MetroWest for making this campaign possible. Learn more about RIA, Inc. and get involved!"

To learn more about RIA's services, please view their website here.