March 18, 2006
Mr. Paul E. Beuchner, III
Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation
30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3600
San Francisco, CA 94102
Dear Mr. Brenner:
On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and particularly the families we serve, thank you for
the past support totaling $29,000 from the Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation. Since 1989, you have
helped provide stability and continuity in the lives of the children at Raphael House. Your
partnership has helped us stay true to our mission “…to help at-risk families achieve stable
housing and financial independence, while strengthening family bonds and personal dignity.”
In the fiscal year that ended July 31, 2005, Raphael House has served 262 families, which
includes 612 children and 296 adults. Over the holiday season, we provided 116 Thanksgiving
food boxes for our families that included a turkey and the fixings for a full feast. During the
Christmas season, we served 160 families in our Adopt-a-Family program, matching families
with generous donors who provide gifts for the children.
Last year, you supported our ChildReach Program, which helps us connect our children to the
services that they need – some of the services which we can provide here at Raphael House, and
services that other agencies can provide when we refer children and provide scholarships.
ChildReach is a new service that Raphael House has been developing over the past year, and we
would like to give a full explanation of how it meets the needs of children recovering from
homelessness. We respectfully request that The Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation will support our
programs with an increased gift of $4,000.
Needs statement
Children recovering from homelessness have been living on the fringes of society. Many have
been moving with their families from one relative’s house to another. Also, many have had to
change schools several times, and few have been able to keep up with extra-curricular activities.
Without a consistent group of adults to provide role models, or a consistent group of peers to
provide friendship, a child has a difficult time developing social skills and keeping up in school.
Methods
Raphael House wants children to have a healthy relationship with the world in which they live.
For children to re-connect to the world, they have to experience it. Regular attendance in an
extra-curricular academic, sports or arts program can be the bridge between their unstable past
and their self-sufficient future.
The assortment of services that a child recovering from homelessness might need is huge. We
can provide many of these services while a child stays at Raphael House, including shelter for
the child and his or her family, food, clothing academic tutoring in our After-School Program,
and activities with art and music. We can also provide services for the children after their
families have left Raphael House and gotten back into stable housing, which include continued
tutoring in the After-School Program, field trips, free clothing and backpacks at the beginning of
the school year, field trips, summer camp, boxes of food to help make Thanksgiving dinner, and
Christmas gifts through our Adopt-a-Family program. Also, we provide referrals for the children
to receive services from other agencies, which include medical, dental and mental health care,
swimming lessons, sports teams, and membership in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. With these
referrals, we help the children get scholarships, and we sometimes pay for the activities with our
own money.
ChildReach is a central tracking system that seeks to overcome several challenges in providing
these services. ChildReach staff members will maintain contact with 130 children who live all
around the Bay Area, ascertain their changing needs, connect them with appropriate services that
we and other agencies can provide, and make sure that they are improving in their academic and
social performance.
Evaluation
Raphael House will evaluate ChildReach by children improving their performance as shown on
academic report cards and behavior reports. Also, we will evaluate the program by parents’
reports of how their children are developing. We will assess the children in two groups. Tier I
children visit us on a daily basis in the After-School Program, coming to receive academic
tutoring, and Tier II children visit us several times a year, attending social events, summer camp,
and getting referrals for extracurricular activities. Our goal is to have 30 children enrolled in Tier
I, and 100 children enrolled in Tier II of ChildReach. We are attaching two grids that more
specifically explain the intended activities and outcomes of the ChildReach program.
Also, we are enclosing copies of our recent newsletters, our year-end statistics for last year, and
our most recent audited financial statements. If there is any other information you would like to
receive from us, feel free to contact me at 415-345-7263.
Sincerely,
Eric Ruthford
Manager of Corporate and Foundation Relations