Meet Danae Davis of Foundation for Animal Care and Education (FACE Foundation)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danae Davis.

Danae, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
FACE Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) public charity that was established in 2006 by a group of veterinarians and community members concerned by the growing issue of “economic euthanasia” – when a pet is humanely euthanized (“put to sleep”) for a treatable medical condition simply due to cost. As a solution, FACE fundraises to provide financial grants for animal owners who are unable to afford the cost of their pet’s emergency or critical care.

FACE has grown significantly over the past 13 years. What started out as a beautiful vision to stop the surrender and euthanasia of beloved family pets has become a supportive center where families in crisis can get a helping hand to save their pets’ lives. It took a lot of groundwork by FACE’s Board of Directors, volunteers and staff to grow our funds and veterinary partner network, which allows us to provide life-saving care. In our first year, we worked with one hospital in San Diego to save the lives of twelve family pets. Fast forward to today, and we have now worked with over 166 local veterinary hospitals and are currently saving more than one life per day.

FACE grantees are typically low-income families, senior citizens, veterans, military families, students, disabled individuals, or hard-working families and individuals who struggle to survive paycheck to paycheck. With a tagline of “Saving Pets and Helping Families,” FACE’s work is just as important for the animals we save as it is for the families who are spared the heartbreak of losing their best friend.

The FACE Family is happy with our growth over the years, which exemplifies both the hard work done to combat this issue and the current need for FACE’s services in our community. We only hope to continue to see growth in our capacity to service pets and pet parents in need.

Personally, I got involved with FACE in 2013 while I was working as our Grant Coordinator. In this position, I helped local families apply for FACE assistance and got to give people the good news of being approved for FACE funding. From there, I took on more responsibility as Programs Manager to help expand FACE’s community programs, including Save-A-Life, Humane Education and even created our Community Outreach Program which currently focuses on homeless outreach. Additionally as Programs Manager, I worked primarily on FACE’s fundraising events and public relations but enjoyed the ongoing work on our programs as well as team building with staff, interns and volunteers. While working at FACE, I completed a Certification in Nonprofit Management through Brandman University and Nonprofit Management Solutions. Along the way, I have volunteered with other amazing organizations such as Rancho Coastal Humane Society, Young Life, Jewish Family Services, and Animal Protection & Rescue League.

After working for FACE for nearly four years, I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to work at Hawaii’s first 24-hour emergency and specialty veterinary hospital, the Veterinary Emergency + Referral Center of Hawaii, working closely with the hospital’s veterinarians as well as local veterinarians throughout the island. Although my work at the hospital was exciting, I often missed working at FACE and was thrilled when asked to return back to the foundation in 2018 as their Executive Director.

FACE is special to me because it has given me the opportunity to assist others during their time of crisis, allowing me to learn a lot about myself along the way. There are so many moving parts to our own personal lives, but being able to impact someone else first-hand and see what a difference it makes in their life is truly life-changing. It is a cause worth giving yourself to because you truly can make a lasting impact on individuals, families, and animals.

The positivity around everyone in this field is uplifting and inspiring. Each day I am communicating with new people who simply love animals, whether it is a veterinary hospital team member, or someone looking to support FACE’s cause. Animals make people better and are encouraging people to achieve great things. I am happy to be part of this growing and important sector, and I think together we are capable of greatness.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We are grateful that we have experienced continuous growth over the years in both the number of pets assisted and fundraising. However, fundraising to fulfill the need of both the number of pet owners seeking assistance and the rising cost of veterinary care is an extreme challenge.

FACE aids individuals/families in San Diego County who are at-risk of losing their pet. According to CPI reports, 15.7% of San Diegans fall below poverty level and 33% of San Diegans do not earn enough to cover basic expenses. These statistics combined with data from the American Pet Products Association which shows the cost of veterinary care rising faster than the cost of human health care demonstrates the significant need for FACE within our community. The biggest challenge we constantly face is fundraising enough to meet this need, which causes us to have to push our staff and volunteers harder each year. Most of our staff (small staff of six) play multiple roles within the organization to try to keep up with growth, and we rely heavily on volunteers (100+) at our fundraising events. FACE is currently saving more than one pet per day from economic euthanasia locally – a rate higher than ever before.

Additionally, the recent shift of the veterinary profession from mostly private owned to now mostly corporate-owned has impacted the pet parent community and, as a result, has impacted FACE’s work.

Please tell us about Foundation for Animal Care and Education (FACE or FACE Foundation).
FACE is unique – no one else really does what we do, or at least at this capacity. Our reputation throughout our local veterinary community is a very positive one, and we are proud to be able to fill a very specific need that until FACE started addressing, wasn’t truly being met.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I have always loved animals, and have several fond memories surrounding them. Oddly enough, I never had a cat or dog growing up, but I was always searching for ways to get close to animals. I remember being in maybe first grade, and there was a group of kids huddled around something on the track. I went over to see what was going on, and they were all staring at this bird that had something poking out of its chest. It was hurt and struggling around on its back, not able to get it out. No one was doing anything, so I immediately held the bird and plucked out whatever stick was hurting it. It got up, looked back, and hopped away! I like to think it was thanking me, but it was probably just looking to get away from us as fast as possible!

Aside from that, I have fond memories sunbathing on my grandma’s deck with her Australian Shepherd, Kikko.