Across the country, family homelessness is on the rise, climbing 39% nationally in a single year. Here in San Francisco, the Point-In-Time (PIT) count recorded a 94% increase in family homelessness in 2025; with a further 15% increase recorded earlier this year. This is why Ella Hoffman Rigney founded Raphael House, the first shelter for whole families experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. The past 55 years have seen many iterations of our work, but the mission has never wavered to help families find and maintain their dignity and independence. Your gift today supports families as they rebuild their lives and maintain their dignity, stability, and success after experiencing homelessness.
Since 1971, Raphael House has been a source of transformative change for single mothers like Aisha. When Aisha first heard about Raphael House, she was initially hesitant to enter the shelter system. As a single mom, she was nervous about her children’s safety. But when she learned that Raphael House offers each family a private room of their own, she decided to take a chance, and moved into our Residential Shelter.
During Aisha’s time at Raphael House, her case manager worked with her to develop a daily schedule, with set bedtimes for her kids, and task deadlines to create the foundations for a fresh start. With the support of Raphael House staff, she even connected with other families during monthly house meetings, where parents could exchange resources and share progress in their lives as they continued on their journey towards stability.
During this time, Aisha saw another member of her family who fell in love with this new structure to their lives: her oldest son. He was adamant that they not miss a single Children’s Activity session, which happened every weekday evening. From hands-on crafts to exercise hours, Aisha credits the staff for “always going above and beyond, no matter what activity was happening.”
While Aisha worked one-on-one with her case manager on financial literacy and housing navigation (eventually securing her first ever apartment!), her son was learning to become an avid reader. Through our one-on-one tutoring program, Aisha’s son developed a passion for learning, and insisted that they attend Raphael House’s nightly bedtime story hour.
After Aisha and her family moved out of our Residential Shelter and transitioned to our Bridge Program, Aisha and her family participated every year in our annual Back-to-School drive, so that her children could start the school year on a good foot. Any time her son needed a little extra help academically, she knew she was able to reach out to our Children’s Services department for extra tutoring sessions and support.
Now, Aisha and her family live in the Mission District of San Francisco, and her son attends San Francisco City College. She says that even to this day, she’ll see former Raphael House staff members around the neighborhood and thank them for their support during her stay.
Raphael House is proud to continue to offer the same life-changing services to our Shelter and Bridge families. From children’s activities to house meetings, from case management to one-on-one tutoring, we provide our families with the foundations for long-term wellness and success. Last fiscal year, 88% of families exited Raphael House to stable housing, and 95% of engaged participants in our Bridge Program reported maintaining stable housing in the years after their departure.
Aisha’s experience is one of many at Raphael House that wouldn’t be possible without your partnership. Your donation to Raphael House helps equip families with the tools for long-term stability. Last year, you helped over 200 families find and maintain housing through our Residential Shelter and Bridge Programs. The need for your support has never been greater, as we increase the capacity of our Residential Shelter to meet the heightened need of families in San Francisco. With your support, we can serve more families in a time when our services are deeply needed. Please make a gift today to help make a difference in the lives of mothers like Aisha, looking for a place to call home.
