Episode 69: Raphael House

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Raphael House- Residential Shelter, Bridge Program, Academic Enrichment and Children's Program

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“My joy is seeing the families as they first walked through the door and that support that they feel and that relief that they feel that, finally they have a place that for now they can call home until their real next home is achieved”- Marc Slater

Our featured voices in this episode are Cecilia Ferber the Director of Family Services and Marc Slater the Executive Director, of Raphael House. With over 15 months into the pandemic our most vulnerable families are continuing to face housing problems and securing support services. The City of San Francisco has extended the rent moratorium for another 60 days to the end of August but the end of the State of California’s rent mortium ending June 30th. With the potential of more families becoming homeless we wanted to bring you the voices of Raphael House to share their work on being a bridge out of homeless and poverty for families over these past 50 years.

Marc Slater

Marc Slater the Executive Director, joined Raphael House in 2016. He comes to Raphael House with over a decade of nonprofit experience in marketing, media, and development. Marc was born in Los Angeles, he grew up in Malibu California, and he has been enjoying the food, culture, and people of the Bay Area as a resident since 2004. Marc has based his professional career on being in service of others. This idea was fostered as a young man after saving a mother and her two children during a flash flood in 1991. This experience defined his life, and later his professional career. Marc started his career working in film and marketing and later dedicated his career to serving others as a director for the Boy Scouts of America and by heading shelter operations for the Humane Society. He is excited to continue his mission of serving others and having an impact on our local community as part of the Raphael House family. In his free time, Marc enjoys rock climbing, running, and backpacking with his wife Autumn, and he is an avid golfer, archer, and softball player.

Cecilia Ferber

Ceci Ferber, the Director of Family Services, joined Raphael House in October 2013. Ceci holds an MS in Social Work with a concentration in International Social Welfare & Services to Immigrants and Refugees from Columbia University, and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Latin America and Latino Studies from UC, Santa Cruz. She has provided guidance and support services to families in need for over 18 years. Ceci’s professional and volunteer experience includes nonprofit work in Mexico, the Greater Bay Area, and on the East Coast (New York State). Prior to joining the Program Department at Raphael House, Ceci provided direct services to clients in various settings, including assisted living for senior residents with Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, after-school tutoring to Spanish-speaking children, family and individual counseling, specialized services to children with special needs, psychoeducational support groups for teens, and court-based social services to low-income families facing eviction (case management and short-term counseling). As the Director of Family Services, Ceci ensures that program staff continues to offer the supportive services needed when families enroll and participate in our Residential and Bridge services.

Raphael House

The mission of Raphael House is to help low-income families and families experiencing homelessness strengthen family bonds by achieving stable housing and financial independence.

Since 1971, Raphael House has been at the forefront of providing homeless and low-income families in the San Francisco Bay Area personalized family-centered solutions to build brighter, independent futures. Raphael House is a 100% community-supported organization. Our success rate is unmatched: more than 85% of all Raphael House families go on to achieve long-term stable housing and financial independence.

At Raphael House, we see homelessness as a temporary state that doesn’t define a person. We understand that homelessness can result from unexpected circumstances, whether economic, health-related, or because of a breakdown in family structure. We provide families an opportunity to take ownership of their futures and improve the quality of their lives through a nurturing and supportive process that emphasizes the importance of strong families and personal dignity.

Today, our stable home-like Residential Shelter provides families of all types a warm and safe family-centered community. Each family is provided with their own residential room, daily nutritious meals, and clothing. While at Raphael House, parents participate in a wide range of services that strengthen the whole family as they work toward achieving long-term stable housing and financial independence.

Children in our program receive services that support—and engage their parents in supporting—healthy emotional and academic development. Once families move on from Residential Shelter they have access to an extensive continuum of support through our Bridge Program.

Through our Bridge Program, we are committed to helping families reach and maintain long-term stability by supporting them with the resources and connections they need to move beyond poverty. Families in our Bridge Program have access to a variety of services that help overcome barriers to maintaining housing and achieving financial stability. On average, more than 90% of families who actively participate in the Bridge Program maintain long-term housing and financial stability.

Raphael House provides thorough K-12 academic support to our children to help ensure they achieve and maintain success in school. We offer extensive academic tutoring, enrichment activities, scholarships for extracurricular pursuits, and mentoring throughout the school year for both the children and teens in our Residential Shelter Program and those we serve through our Bridge Program.

Donation/Volunteer

Raphael House is Celebrating 50 Years of Supporting Families!
Your support helps families achieve housing and financial stability through personalized long-term solutions, transforming lives and improving the Bay Area community. Make a 100% tax deductible donation today!

We hope to be able to welcome in-person volunteers back to Raphael House again soon. In the meantime, please continue to submit volunteer inquiries through our website and we will reach out once we are able!
Volunteering at Raphael House is an opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting impact on the future of the parents and children we serve as well as the San Francisco community at large. Virtually every aspect of life at Raphael House depends upon the support of our volunteers.
You can still get involved remotely during the pandemic:
Organize a donation drive for needed items
+Organize an online fundraiser
+Schedule a Lunch & Learn presentation
+Offer your remote services pro bono

If you are an individual interested in becoming a volunteer please complete our individual volunteer application. For questions please contact Community Engagement Manager Kellen Sarver at ksarver@raphaelhouse.org or contact 415.345.7265

Videos

To find out more about Raphael House check out our videos:

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“The family stability program, in terms of the impact, in supporting families with financial resources during this time has been critical and making sure that they’re maintaining their housing and also getting out of homelessness. So this is why we partner really closely with our community and make sure that our families have all the resources that they need to get out of homelessness”

— Ceci Ferber,Director Family Services,Raphael House

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