Is the Raphael House model replicable?
Clearly the “model” we follow is not new. It is, however, difficult to replicate in 21st Century America. Government funding has largely replaced religious based live-in residential programs, which were once so common. While a core of our live-in staff in San Francisco have been at Raphael House for one or two decades, there have been many hundreds of live-in staff who have devoted time to Raphael House before moving on to their permanent life’s work. Without a steady flow of residential interns, there is no way to renew the live-in staff. A single parish can’t supply those staff, though a very small residential program is occasionally possible when competent, committed leadership resides on the premises. While our focus is homeless families, the principles in our program can be applied elsewhere for other populations. This is the model in a nutshell: • A working household (live-in staff; everyone helps out) • Live-in staff with a prayer and sacramental life centered in the Church • A
