BABC Patron Member CyraCom, an international language interpreting company, is donating interpretation services to the Raphael House of San Francisco through the British American Business Council (BABC) Raphael House Task Force. Raphael House is a 100% privately funded and community-supported organization that helps at-risk families achieve stable housing and financial independence.

Over 12 percent of the US population, over 40 million people, were born outside the US. America’s foreign-born population has a substantial impact on the national economy: in 2010, immigrant workers earned a total $1.1 trillion, over 7 percent of the total GDP that year. Additionally, Immigration Policy Center estimates that the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians, many of whom are immigrants, will reach $2.25 trillion this year. California has the highest percentage of immigrants in the US, at 27 percent of the population.

“We pull from a very diverse community,” said Sophia Selassie, Employment Placement Specialist for Raphael House in San Francisco. “We try to support as many families as we can, including refugee families and recent immigrants. While we have had the capabilities to communicate with Tagalog and Spanish speakers, before CyraCom’s language services, we had a real need for Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Malay, Tigrinya, and many other languages. It’s important to us that our families clearly understand things like the complicated or nuanced aspects of transitional housing.”

CyraCom International, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is the 2nd largest provider of language interpreting services. Whether in-person or via phone, video, mobile app, or written text, CyraCom bridges communication gaps for organizations that need rapid access to language assistance. The Company supports hundreds of languages and operates 24/7. CyraCom impacts the lives of millions by connecting those with limited English proficiency to essential services – healthcare, 9-1-1, finance, and more – in a language of their choice.

Raphael House is and has been a primary charity for the Northern California British American Business Council (BABC), which is one of the most important and influential UK-US bilateral trade organizations in Northern California. CyraCom has been a patron member of the BABC since 2008.

The BABC and Raphael House created a Task Force in 2015, a group of passionate volunteers who seek to drive value to Raphael House and deliver life changing opportunities for Raphael House Families through pro bono opportunities. CyraCom’s interpretation service is one of the first major pro bono donations created through the Task Force.

About CyraCom

In business for 20 years, CyraCom supports over 3,000 clients in the US, Canada, and the UK, including many Fortune 500 organizations. CyraCom’s revenue has increased by five times since 2007. The company’s nearly 25% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over that time period has resulted in a total of eight Inc. 5000 placements – an exceptional feat in the language service industry. The Company’s annual revenue is expected to surpass $120M in 2015.

About Raphael House
Since 1971, Raphael House has been at the forefront of providing Bay Area families experiencing or at risk for homelessness the personalized family-centered solutions they need to build brighter futures. Raphael House is a 100% privately funded and community-supported organization. Our success rate is unmatched: 85% of all Raphael House families go on to achieve long-term stable housing and financial independence. With a spirit of warmth, compassion, and kindness at its core, Raphael House offers families short-term residential shelter and rental assistance, intensive ongoing case management, and a continuum of supportive services, such as career development and job placement, mental health counseling, financial literacy workshops, children’s services, K–12 academic tutoring and mentoring, academic and extracurricular scholarships, and family social activities aimed at strengthening the family bond. Raphael House has served nearly 20,000 children and parents since first opening its doors. For more information about Raphael House, please visit raphaelhouse.org.