Greetings, and thank you for allowing me to reach out to you directly as the Board Chair of Raphael House, the oldest family homeless shelter in San Francisco.
I am writing to you with an invitation. An invitation to be a part of something great, greater than you, greater than me, greater than us. Raphael House of San Francisco is a bright, shining light on a hill. It is a model for not just homelessness prevention and family stability, it is also a model for efficiency of spend. It is a model for how to maximize the dollars we have and for using those dollars to continue to help our families break the cycle of homelessness. For example:
Did you know that we’ve been serving the community for 53 years? On average, 90% of families in our Shelter Program transition to stable housing, and 93% of those families achieve long-term stability through our Bridge Program.
Did you know that in our last fiscal year, we served 192 families through our programs, including 385 kids, and that we served 12,372 meals?
Did you know that historically, the above incredible success has been 100% community-funded? (Thank you!!!)
But there are more reasons to be impressed with Raphael House:
- In the past two years, we have added five incredible people to our Board of Directors, and half of our board members are women.
- We have created the Executive Leadership Council, a group of 21 dedicated community members committed to supporting Raphael House with their time, energy, and money.
- Our finances are stable, we have a clean audit, and we have strong corporate governance.
- We have a powerful development committee focused on increasing our individual, foundation, and corporate giving as well as the pursuit of new public funding.
None of the above happens without the tireless work of the onsite staff. My job, as I see it, is to ensure Raphael House exists as long as our services are needed. Last year, we had the most successful Gala in the history of the House, and we look forward to building on that success. This is your invitation to join us. Participate. Donate. Sponsor or attend our Gala on May 11. Join our Executive Leadership Council. Take a tour of our home. GET INVOLVED.
This is OUR community. Families. Futures. We need you to be a part of this. If you have donated and been involved in the past, thank you for your support. We need you and we hope you will continue to partner with us. If this is your first time hearing about us, come by and get to know us.
We look forward to seeing you soon, and to working together to continue our success.
Tom Poser
Raphael House Board Chair