OUR HISTORY
In 1974,
Founding officers Ronald E. Clark, Sheila P. Kearney, and M. S. Pendleton were committed to change. They recognized the significant needs of the community. Along with a small group of volunteers and community leaders in Salt Lake City, they initiated a local community rape awareness program. Their outreach materials were fully bilingual. Through their dedication to ending sexual violence and supporting survivors, the Salt Lake Rape Crisis Center received its Article of Incorporation on January 10, 1975.
On Feb. 1, 1975, the Center opened. Ron Clark, the minister of the Unitarian Church, and the Church itself loaned the Center money to pay for the phone and keep the Center open until the staff could find funding. Towards the end of that first year, the Rape Center received a grant through Title XX.
Christine Waters became the first Executive Director, and the Center had the first 24-hour crisis line and mobile response to hospitals in Utah. The center’s first official home was next to now Mary W. Jackson Elementary in the Fairpark community at 776 W. 2nd N.
In the 1980s,
The Rape Crisis Center, the Salt Lake District Attorney’s Office, local police departments, hospitals, and the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office jointly established a protocol for victims reporting rape and sexual assault. This procedure called the Code R, was designed to provide immediate service to victims of sexual violence through a standardized rape evidence collection process, medical case, and crisis intervention. This service brought SL Rape Crisis Center staff to hospital emergency rooms and police stations to be with victims in a more official manner. The SL Rape Crisis Center was called out for every Code R. Read more at our Decades of Support page.
In the 1990s,
Under the leadership of Abby Maestas-Trujillo, the Salt Lake Rape Crisis Center was renamed Rape Recovery Center (RRC) to symbolize hope for recovery. In addition, the Rape Recovery Center administered the statewide coalition, CAUSE, at the Center. In 1996 CAUSE became a separate nonprofit entity and was later renamed the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. During this decade, many exciting events occurred, and the center and its staff received national recognition. Read more at our Decades of Support page.
Since becoming the Rape Recovery Center, many structural changes have created greater access to comprehensive recovery for all survivors of sexual trauma. Today, the Rape Recovery Center continues to provide a vital role during the Code R process in Salt Lake County through our Mobile Response Team, assisting nearly 800 survivors annually. The 24-hour crisis line, now administered by UCASA, is a resource to approximately 1,500 callers annually. Our in-office services include personal advocacy, short and long-term counseling, and an array of therapy and support groups, serving over 3,000 clients annually. Our outreach and education programs reach roughly 40,000 community members annually by enriching partnerships and offering primary prevention training.