About Raphael House Boutique
Raphael House is a dedicated
non-profit helping at-risk children and their families
achieve stable housing and financial independence, while strengthening family
bonds and personal dignity in San Francisco, CA. For the past 10 years the
Raphael House Store (Boutique), which is located next to our main building, has
become an essential resource for our shelter residents, who often arrive with
only the clothes, they are wearing.
All of our merchandise which is
sold both online and on site in the store is donated by the public, and all of
the proceeds go to support the Raphael House programs.
If you are in the area please stop by and visit our store at:
1045 Sutter St. San Francisco,
CA 94109
(Between Larkin & Hyde in
San Francisco’s lower Nob Hill)
Store Hours:
Thursday - Saturday 10am - 5:30pm
About Raphael House
Established in 1971 as the
first shelter in San Francisco for homeless families, today Raphael House has a
dedicated staff and Board of Directors from the local community, along with a
small core of live-in staff who are Orthodox Christian. No religious
obligations are placed on the families we serve. Raphael House relies solely on
private sources to meet its annual budget. Support is received from
individuals, businesses and corporations, foundations, church groups, and civic
organizations that are committed to promoting stability for at-risk families.
We do not seek or accept federal, state, or municipal government funding.
By enlisting the support of the
community for our work, Raphael House sets in motion a cycle of renewal. We
have sheltered more than 17,000 children and their parents through the
assistance of more than 12,000 individuals who have invested financial and
volunteer support to assist Raphael House.
Raphael House neither seeks nor
accepts government funding. Agencies that rely on government funding sources
can easily become compromised due to political or economic vicissitudes. In
addition, private funding allows Raphael House to operate its programs founded
upon the best practices that it has learned in over thirty years of service.
Raphael House has instead established a more broad-based funding program to
meet the annual budget of approximately $1.7 million. Our support is drawn from
individuals, corporations, foundations, churches, synagogues, and other civic
organizations that are committed to promoting stability for at-risk families.
Our annual Gala provides 16% of our operating revenues, and income from our
Thrift Store provides a steady income stream.
There are many ways to help -- online credit card donations,
checks and cash, stock donations, donating goods and services, workplace
giving, bequests and property gifts.
A Closer Look at Raphael House of San Francisco
Raphael House, conceived as the
first shelter for children and families experiencing homelessness in Northern
California, provides an environment of loving support where families and
children are able to restore and strengthen family bonds as they move toward
brighter more hopeful futures. More than 17,000 families have passed through
our doors where they have received the necessary tools to set in motion a cycle
of renewal and growth. Today Raphael House provides a spectrum of full family
support, including After School, ChildReach and AfterCare services where we
partner with parents to engage the hearts and minds of the whole child as they
experience the world around them.
For thirty seven years, Raphael
House has been a leader in family services in San Francisco. Through a homeowners
approach to social service, we work with parents and families to lay the
foundations for a lifetime of healthy development, achievement and stability.
Long after a family departs to stable housing, our staff, volunteers and Board
of Directors remain committed to the lifetime success of each of our families
through a spectrum of AfterCare services. Our residential shelter program has a
proven history of providing the foundation for healthy growth and development
of children and families. What began as a homeless drop-in shelter has grown
into a full service family support center where families thrive.
Our Philosophy
1. Beauty and Order
Everything at Raphael House
should reflect beauty and order. This is the first healing antidote, which
Raphael House offers for families in crisis and turmoil. Daily, healthy, safe
patterns for children are the first steps in helping children learn to behave
and overcome the feeling of being homeless.
2. Neighborly Relationship
We treat residents the same way
we would want to be treated if we were in crisis and in need of help. Combining
firm boundaries (orderliness) with the Golden Rule helps make Raphael House the
kind of place where people in many different stations of life feel comfortable
coming together. All material help is given in a context of neighborly
relationship. In every aspect of service delivery, we treat people as
neighbors, not units of service. Raphael House operates in such a way that
donors and former residents can give.
3. God Heals
Staff expects and acts on the
belief that healing occurs in peoples lives through Raphael House when we don't
get in the way through judgment, anger or fear. Terrible events happen in this
world, including much physical suffering. We can't change the fact that tragedy
happens in many different ways, but life outpaces tragedy and new opportunities
exist almost immediately.
4. Virtue and Responsibility
In our services for families,
we operate in accordance with traditional Judeo-Christian virtues. We don't
require families to adopt our religious faith or practices. But we do require
staff to be proactive in the presentation of virtue and responsibility in daily
life. Our operational principle is to help families find strategies to
negotiate the world that are honest and responsible.
5. Children must grow as children
All of our children's programs
are aimed at nourishing the developing child rather than on premature
adaptation to adulthood.
6. Entrepreneurial Spirit
We are entrepreneurs, not
social workers. We are always looking for ways to improve on what we do;
getting the most out of the resources we are given. Our entrepreneurial
approach goes hand-in-hand with our belief in personal responsibility. Hence,
our operational models are not drawn from the pervasive government-social work
continuum, but from the spirit of small business and traditional religious
philanthropy.
7. We tell our story
We keep track of what we do and
we communicate it to our volunteers, donors and the San Francisco Community.
8. God blesses us to grow
In accordance with our
Christian foundation, we must grow, not simply stay the same. God brings us
opportunities and we feel a deep and divine mandate to do what is in our power
to help the families we serve. The more wisely and aggressively we do this, the
more God will grant an increase. Even in times of massive economic recession
(when our actual income may drop) we expect God to increase our ability to
provide help.
Currently, Raphael House serves approximately 100 families
through the Residential Shelter Program and 1,100 children and parents through its
AfterCare Program each year.
***If you would like to help us online be sure to donate a
percentage of your eBay auction sales to Raphael House through eBay giving
works!***
Main Website
www.raphaelhouse.org
Store Websites
http://www.raphaelhousethriftstore.org/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6994890
http://store.auctiva.com/RaphaelHouseBoutique
