Talk about making a splash. On Thursday morning, the Carolina Rollergirls leaped -- without their skates -- into the pool at Interact's new full-service center for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

It was a TV moment, along with the announcements of huge money raised -- and bigger money needed for the soon-to-open facility.

But behind the cameras came the real news: a 6,000 square-foot addition to the former YWCA building that will accommodate one arm of the Southlight program.

The 38-year-old Southlight, which helps people overcome substance abuse, will be teaming up with the 22-year-old Interact to provide what the nonprofit do-gooder types call wraparound services. What that means is that while Interact is helping its clients, mainly women and children, start new lives following domestic violence, Southlight will be on hand, just up the hall, to provide those same clients with counseling for drug and alcohol abuse.

There will be representatives of other agencies on hand in the building, too. But the connection between Interact and Southlight is particularly promising.

Here's why:

* Between 25 percent and 50 percent of all clients receiving services in domestic violence and sexual assault programs have issues with substance abuse.

* Women who have been assaulted are twice as likely as other women to use or abuse substances.

* About 50 percent of all female alcoholics have been victims of domestic violence.

"People tend to think of the abusers as the alcoholics and drug users," said Tad Clodfelter, Southlight president. "But we see so many victims who use alcohol and drugs to ease their pain."

Debi Holt of Raleigh can attest to it.

Holt has been out of an abusive relationship for six years. She has been clean and sober for more than five.

But getting through both of those problems, at the same time, was no picnic.

"It just about killed me," she said.

In the years before she left her abuser, Holt had begun drinking, taking painkillers and abusing her antidepressants to mask the physical and emotional tumult of living with a man who wished her a happy 21st birthday by knocking out her front teeth.

Her "boyfriend" was a crack addict who eventually got her hooked as well. Soon she was in charge of raising the money for their drugs -- from shoplifting or stealing lawn equipment to selling her body for cash.

When she finally broke away, she needed help reconstructing her entire life.

She ended up in Interact's shelter for battered women. To protect her safety, and to keep her from falling off the wagon, somebody from Interact had to drive her daily to an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting and wait for her outside when it was through.

Later, when she moved to, and then managed, a group home for recovering substance abusers, Holt noticed how common her situation was.

"About half the women in there had experienced domestic violence," she said.

At Interact's new facility, "it will be an intense benefit to have [services for domestic violence and substance abuse] under one roof," Holt said.

In a sink-or-swim situation, even victims carrying the weight of the world can learn to float -- with the right help.

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