InterAct offers shelter, safety and hope for victims of domestic violence

Many people in abusive relationships suffer alone.

“It’s not something you necessarily want to talk to your friends about,” says Jessica Smith, who recalls how it felt to keep such a dangerous secret.

Smith left her violent marriage eight years ago after suffering a broken jaw. She found help at InterAct of Wake County, a nonprofit agency that has been providing comprehensive resources to domestic violence victims for 39 years.

“Talking to my InterAct counselor was the first time I had been able to open up about what I was going through,” Smith says. “They helped me put things back together, and I finally started to feel like I was going to be OK.”

Today, Smith has her life on track and is helping others as a volunteer for InterAct, where she often speaks to groups about her experience through the agency’s “Courageous Voices” program.

“I am happy to tell my story and how InterAct helped me,” she says.

Smith and her two sons also volunteer annually during InterAct’s annual Holiday Bazaar, where families shop for holiday gifts in rooms filled with donated items.

Hotlines and shelter

Christine Brewer, associate director of communications at InterAct, says the annual bazaar is a tradition for the agency that has provided an array of services to victims and survivors of domestic violence since 1978.

“Our mission is to end the cycle of domestic and sexual violence in Wake County,” Brewer says. “We do that by saving lives, rebuilding lives and securing safer futures for victims and survivors.” InterAct has three 24-hour hotlines for victims and an emergency shelter that provides short-term residential services for up to 45 victims and their children. It also offers individual and group counseling, case-management services, community education and outreach, youth education, financial skills counseling and empowerment training – in addition to comprehensive sexual assault services.

InterAct has two Pass It On thrift stores, one on Oberlin Road in Raleigh and one in Fuquay-Varina, that help raise money for the services it offers.

“Domestic violence is a big issue, and it’s everybody’s issue,” Brewer says. “It affects one in three women and one in four men. Abuse can be emotional, psychological, financial and verbal – not just physical.”

The agency added a state-of-the-art forensic exam center, called the Solace Center, in 2011. Specially trained nurses are on call to respond in cases of rape or sexual violence, which allows women to get checked out privately rather than going into a hospital emergency room.

Smith pointed to another recent advance: the ability to videoconference with a judge in order to file a request for protective orders.

“That would have been game-changing for me,” she said, explaining that 2009 she had to appear in court with her jaw wired shut to receive protection.

InterAct has about 50 full- and part-time staff members – and some 3,000 volunteers who work at various times throughout the year. Approximately 62,000 people receive some sort of services through the agency annually, with 9,000 of those being victims in crisis.

“Ninety cents of every dollar that we raise goes directly into program services,” Brewer says.

“We need it to keep the doors open and staff available.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 9:00 AM with the headline "InterAct offers shelter, safety and hope for victims of domestic violence."