International Womens House

Since 1997, IWH has provided shelter and support services to over 6,000 women and children from more than 40 countries, serving 20 residents at a time. Eighty-eight percent of these women have not returned to their battering partner, but rather have gone on to become economically self-sufficient women. The quality of IWH's program has resulted in being the first agency contacted by the State of Georgia to assist domestic violence victims who are refugees and immigrants.

The Junior League of DeKalb County, Georgia, founded International Women's House in 1997, and in 1999, with the full support and encouragement of the League, IWH became autonomous and attained its own 501(c)(3) status. After a 3 year capital campaign in which IWH raised $1,050, , the shelter moved into its current facility in October 2005. Not only is IWH the only shelter in the State of Georgia to serve women of all nationalities, it is the only shelter in the country with its unique open door policy. Its services are absolutely critical to the Metropolitan Atlanta area, where 75% of all refugees to the State of Georgia relocate, and to DeKalb County, where two-thirds of the refugees decide to settle.

Many collaborative partners and numerous volunteers, including volunteers from the Junior League of DeKalb County, help run the shelter with the 10 staff members that are multi-cultural and multi-lingual. Together they provide the services, among others, of emergency shelter and transitional housing, meals, childcare, comprehensive case management, support groups and legal assistance, all free of charge. Residents stay an average of 3 months. In 2005, IWH sheltered 114 residents and provided 18,000 meals unique to each resident's culture. IWH also helps locate transitional housing when residents are ready to leave. In addition to paying rent for the first few months, IWH helps residents secure household items and furnishings. IWH also helps relocate residents who must leave the area for safety reasons. No IWH client is abandoned. IWH staff provide follow-up for a year to help former residents get established in their new lives.

Crisis Hotline: Trained multi-lingual staff answer a crisis hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They provide information, counseling and referrals in 10 different languages. The Georgia Coalition of Domestic Violence and the United Way's 211 Help Line route all of their domestic violence calls from non-English speaking women to IWH. In 2005, IWH counselors received over 9,000 crisis line calls.