Since beginning life in the garage of a one-story Seal Beach home thirty years ago, Interval House has spent their time changing the lives of thousands of victims of domestic abuse, but also fighting stigmas.

In the House’s first week of business, a scathing newspaper report surfaced depicting surrounding neighbors’ fears that the shelter would attract “the wrong kinds of people,” remembers Carol Anne Williams, Executive Director of the domestic violence prevention and support organization.

Any reservations among the staff abruptly vanished when the first client showed up, a mother of three who fled abuse at home and had nowhere else to go.  She was welcomed in and asked how she’d heard of Interval House.

“She said, ‘I read about it in the newspaper and I thought I could find help here,’” says Williams.  “Any press is good press.”

Since those long ago days in the garage, Interval House has blossomed into a nationally recognized and internationally sought-after center of domestic abuse recovery.  Over 100 staff operate seven shelter facilities in and around Long Beach, organizing support groups, searching the job market or working with children of abuse.  Today, Interval House is the nation’s preeminent organization for helping victims cope and recover from abuse.

More than 400 awards have been bestowed upon Interval House at the local, state and national levels by everyone from Presidents Clinton and Bush to the Department of Justice.  Williams herself was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV), and founding Executive Director Mary Walton was given the highest honor of “Legend” by the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC).  Many of the rest of the staff have received their fair share of recognition, as well.

But the staff remains deeply grounded in commitment to their mission: helping those affected by domestic violence, and doing what they can to prevent it.

“It’s not just a women’s issue,” says Sharon Wie, Director of Programs.  “It’s a community issue that affects people across all racial, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Wie calls domestic violence a major problem in Long Beach, evidenced by the 12,000 hotline calls and 600 women that come through Interval House’s doors every year.  Of particular focus are the 800 children that accompany their parents into Interval House shelters, since young people who have experienced domestic violence are more likely to (1) repeat the behavior and (2) fall into trouble with the law.  Many youngsters reach out to gangs in search of affection that doesn’t exist at home.

So it’s easy to see why Interval House’s staff works so hard, sometimes into the dark hours or through vacation time.  But they also do it because they know what it’s like to be on the other side.  Over 95% of Interval House advocates have been victims of domestic violence.  Some came with nothing.  Some had little or no education.  Many did not speak English.

Today, they’re model examples of how Interval House can help turn a person’s life around.  Many took the same route to success – enter the emergency assistance program, move on to the transitional stage to pursue their goals, return to Interval House as a volunteer and eventually join the full-time staff.  Not bad for leaving behind the only life you’ve ever known with empty pockets.

Outreach
Victims find Interval House in a number of ways (Hotline: (562) 594.4555 or (714) 891.8121), but the shelter is constantly looking for new ways to find victims, too.  Interval House has working relationships with several local churches to direct affected congregation members to their CASE (Creating A Safe Environment) project, and The Center to assist the LGBT community.

Perhaps the most important outreach program is “Second Generation,” a group of young volunteers that travel to local schools to teach dangers and warning signs of domestic violence among youth, focusing just as much on prevention as assistance.

Wie pegs teenage dating violence as a major concern in Long Beach schools, and Second Generation attends high schools, junior high schools and even some elementary schools where problems have been identified.  It might seem unfathomable that 5th graders exhibit signs of domestic violence, but it’s worth the effort.  As with the Interval House general staff, most of the Second Generation clan are victims themselves.

Second Generation is just one of many smaller offshoots of Interval House’s services.  Their main point of pride is the ability to offer help in more than 50 languages, an invaluable luxury in a city as diverse as Long Beach.  The need for multi-lingual capabilities was evident in the early days.

“Other shelters wouldn’t take non-English speakers,” remembers Williams.  “We just never understood that.”

Today, Interval House boasts an Asian support group with staff that speak 22 languages, the nation’s first Eastern European and Slavic support program (10 languages) and the nation’s first Middle Eastern program (Arabic & Farsi).  Abuse shelters from around the world call in, seeking advice on assisting foreign clients.

Focused On The Mission
Armed with very limited funding since Day One, Interval House has had to fight a lot of its own battles, and has done so with alarming success.  

Out of necessity, the staff became expertly skilled at lobbying the government to enact legislation and played a big role in developing the Domestic Violence Education Program.  But Interval House also provides legal counsel to its clients as well, thanks to none other than Latina Program Director and Interval House alumnus Elva Ruiz, who fled a brutal marriage to seek help in 1981, and sheepishly admits bringing a 3rd grade education with her.

Today though, Ruiz is a force in the courtroom, armed with a college degree and 27 years of experience in the legal domestic violence field.  She speaks solemnly of the scores of women who come to her overwhelmed by the daunting task of leaving abusive spouses and the legal issues they must face, but smiles when explaining her success rate in helping them.  She smiles even bigger explaining that Harvard Law grads make regular pilgrimages to Long Beach to learn from her.

The honors that Ruiz has received could fill up the Long Beach Poly trophy case, but it’s never been about the recognition.  For Interval House, the one and only goal is to prevent the evil of domestic violence and assist those that have fallen victim.  It’s no easy task in Long Beach.

“The more diverse a city is, the more difficult it is to reach those who are affected,” says Wie.  Speaking 50+ languages helps, but there will always be more work to be done.

Interval House will be there to do it, and lend a hand as they have to tens of thousands of others over the last thirty years.  They have provided shelter, healthcare, and meals upon meals.  For many clients, Interval House provided the only support and encouragement that they’ve ever known.

They give because they remember what it was like to receive.  The staff cares about the victims’ scars because they still bear their own.  Take one look around the administration office at the cheery but determined faces that were once filled with fear for their safety – having won their own battles, now fighting to win the war.

By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor