Last Saturday night, in front of over 600 people at the black-tie Raphael House Annual Gala, John Hinman was honored with the Raphael House Community Impact Award.
During his almost 30 years of service to the Raphael House, John has dedicated himself to the cause of addressing the tragedy of homelessness. John, who is Chairman Emeritus, has served as a board member, Chair of Strategic Planning, and Chairman for multiple terms. He also serves his community through membership on the Board of Directors of the UCSF Russell/Engleman Research Center and the Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy program. John’s dedication to homeless outreach is traceable to his military service in Vietnam in the 1960’s, and his concern not only for his fellow servicemen but for refugees created by conflict of any sort.
In his acceptance speech, John addressed the needs Raphael House serves best – stabilizing families and children. Serving dozens of resident families at a time, the Raphael House provides an environment where comprehensive services are available to families in need. By providing counseling, job assistance, school tutoring services, to name a few of the services provided by the Raphael House, parents experience the value of providing a safe and secure place for their children, a place where children can feel safe and live without the fear and uncertainty that comes from not knowing how long they can stay in any one place. The Raphael House strives to break the chain of negative outcomes that result from children growing up in poverty and never feeling secure, so future generations can thrive.
The Raphael House success ratio, measured by family stability and finding a home following their stay in the shelter for up to six months, is approximately 85%, and over 23,000 people have gone through the program over the last four decades.
John closed by asking for funds to be donated to the Edward D. Haas Memorial building fund. The fund is named after a close friend and one of his fellow board members who helped direct the purchase of the 100-year-old physical shelter structure (on Sutter between Hyde and Larkin next to the Carleton Hotel) in the capital campaign of 2000. The building fund is dedicated to maintaining the many on-going physical needs of the shelter itself, which is not just a house but a home. Directions for donations can be found at www.raphaelhouse.org
John is celebrating his 40th year advising clients in the alcoholic beverage industry. John’s background and history (and his many articles and published blogs) can be found on the firm’s website: www.beveragelaw.com