April 1, 2004

Credit where credit is due
Almaden’s Sandy Davis receives City Council commendation

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

After 20 years with the Rape Crisis Center, Almaden’s Sandy Davis, Director of the Santa Clara Valley YWCA received a much-deserved commendation from the City Council on Tuesday for her “dedication in helping those in crisis and for being an inspiration to those around her.”

“We all recognize the outstanding and tremendous work that the Santa Clara Valley YWCA does,” said Vice Mayor Pat Dando. “But there are people behind the scenes that really add so much to the services that our community receives. Sandy Shore Davis is one of those individuals.”

Credited with getting the Rape Crisis Center and hotline up and running, Davis started her work with the YWCA as a hotline volunteer in the early 1980s, offering support and assistance to rape survivors. In addition to training staff and volunteers, she now oversees the operations of the center, which takes in an estimated 1,000 calls each year and offers outreach to more than 15,000 people. Last year alone, the center made over 700 hospital visits to comfort women who had been raped or abused.

“She carries a pager 24/7,” added Dando. “It’s not unusual for Sandy to go to the hospital at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Most of the calls she gets from people in need are not between 9:00 and 5:00. She’s there for them when they are at their most vulnerable.”

Davis served on the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault Board for three years. According to the commendation, she has overcome many barriers and challenged people’s beliefs by dispelling the myths that surround sexual assault. The Rape Crisis Center is a direct result of her work over the years creating strong networks, standardizing the process of tracking cases, and writing proposals for rape crisis services.

“The crime of sexual assault is an uncommon crime,” Davis commented during her acceptance of the commendation. “The cause in our community is an uncommon cause. One of the realities of the work we do is that we’re not exactly sure how the end of the story happens. The comeback thank yous aren’t as frequent as we would love to have, so this is just wonderful.”