Housing Is Where Healing Begins

For over five decades, Raphael House has been doing what it has always done — opening a door when families have nowhere else to turn.

“Raphael House is thrilled that Episcopal Impact Fund is partnering with us to deepen support for families experiencing homelessness at a time when they need our services most. We're growing our impact — opening more rooms to serve more families on their journey to long-term stability and wellness through our Residential Shelter and Bridge Program. On behalf of our team, our families, and our community: thank you for growing with us, Episcopal Impact Fund." —Tina Burgelman, Executive Director, Raphael House San Francisco

Founded in 1971 as San Francisco's first family homeless shelter, Raphael House remains the city's largest — and one of its most effective. Their model doesn't just move families off the streets. It walks alongside them toward a life they can sustain. That's the kind of work Episcopal Impact Fund is proud to support.

What They Do

Raphael House's Residential Shelter provides families with private furnished rooms, nutritious meals, intensive case management, career development services, and financial literacy education — the practical scaffolding families need to stabilize. Children receive K–12 tutoring, enrichment scholarships, and mentoring so that homelessness doesn't determine a child's academic trajectory. When families leave the shelter, the relationship doesn't end. Through the Bridge Program — launched in 1981 and still going strong — Raphael House maintains ongoing connections with former residents, helping them navigate the barriers that can pull families back into crisis. Last fiscal year, 95% of Bridge Program participants maintained long-term housing and financial stability. 88% of families leaving the Residential Shelter transitioned to stable housing. These aren't just numbers. They're families who stayed housed.

Growing to Meet the Moment

In 2026, Raphael House is expanding its physical capacity — adding new rooms to its portfolio and increasing the number of families it can welcome through its doors at any given time. In a city where shelter beds are perpetually scarce, that growth is significant. Episcopal Impact Fund is proud to be part of making it possible. This year, the Impact Fund awarded Raphael House a Housing Security Grant — an investment in the infrastructure of stability, and in the families who will call those rooms home.

Why It Matters to the Impact Fund

At Episcopal Impact Fund, we believe in funding organizations that treat those they serve as whole people — not cases to be managed, but neighbors to be walked with. Raphael House's approach reflects exactly that: personalized, family-centered, and committed to the long arc of stability rather than a quick handoff.

This is solidarity in action — built one family at a time.