A social-service agency that provides temporary housing for homeless women and their children is gearing up for a move of its own.

HEARTH, which stands for Homelessness Ends with Advocacy, Resources, Training and Housing, has its offices and 15 apartments in the former St. Benedict Academy in Ross.

The Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh, which owns the property, is negotiating the sale of the 10-acre campus. When that deal goes through, HEARTH and four other social service agencies will have to find new quarters or close. They are Easter Seals Adult Day Care, Perry-Ross Meals on Wheels, Ross-Mercy Mental Retardation Services and the Benedictine Senior Center, which the nuns co-sponsor with the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging.

HEARTH provides housing for up to two years for women with children who are at risk of becoming or who are homeless. In return, the women are required to enroll in a job-training program or college and to receive counseling in life skills.

HEARTH has been given a June deadline to relocate.

Jerry Drozynski, president of HEARTH's board, said the nonprofit hoped to find a location in the North Hills. He predicted the agency would move twice.

The first move would be into temporary quarters while it runs an 18-month capital campaign to raise money for a new facility. The second would be in 2013 into a permanent home.

"I've been joking that we are going to become the only 'homeless' homeless program," Mr. Drozynski said.

Sister Benita DeMatteis, the prioress, or head, of the local Benedictine order, said the wooded campus had become too large and too expensive to maintain for the declining number of nuns who reside there.

The four-story monastery, next to the former school, now called Benedictine Place, was built to house 200 nuns, she said. Her order has 54 older and retired sisters. The sisters have been in the county for 140 years and in Ross since 1926. There's no decision on where the order will relocate, Sister Benita said.

The sale of the hilltop campus will not affect operations at nearby HEARTH at Benet Woods, Mr. Drozynski said. The sisters sold that property several years ago to Benet Woods Housing Corp., a HEARTH subsidiary, and Trek Development Group. That land, which faces Rodenbaugh Avenue, is home to 11 units of affordable housing.

The nuns have a deal to sell the remaining property and buildings to Pressley Ridge, a McCandless-based nonprofit that aids youths with emotional and developmental problems.

HEARTH's immediate need is for a building, or several structures on one property, large enough to provide room for 15 two- and three-bedroom apartments, counseling areas and offices. That would be occupied for up to 18 months anywhere in Allegheny County, but it must be close to public transportation, Mr. Drozynski said.

Since 1995, HEARTH has helped 542 women and children.