Anna Diaz-White reflects on 40 years of service for 180 Turning Lives Around


By: Ray Schweibert | April 26, 2024 Philanthropy Monmouth County

By Ray Schweibert

Those who believe in fate might wonder if the foresight Anna Diaz-White’s parents had in escaping an oppressive regime, nearing the last opportune time to do so, somehow played into her dedication toward saving others from domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Diaz-White was only two when her parents fled Cuba for the United States in 1960. She would go on to earn a Master of Business Administration from New York University and embark on a career in finance with Citibank, now Citigroup, in Queens. After taking a break from business and a tough commute to raise her family, she re-entered the working world by accepting a part-time position closer to home as a finance grant writer for the non-profit 180 Turning Lives Around, located in Hazlet which serves as Monmouth County’s center for providing survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their families with free and confidential programs and resources.

Eight years after taking the part-time post, and with more flexibility in her schedule, she applied for and was granted the title of Executive Director of 180 Turning Lives Around, which was founded in 1976 as The Women’s Resource and Survival Center.

During her 32-year tenure as director, 180 achieved several major milestones, among them reaching in 2016 the mark of one-million 24/7 hotline calls responded to by the organization. Others include creating the first federally funded battered women’s shelter in the nation in 1986, starting 180’s Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Response Teams (in 1996 and ’98), and overseeing the organization’s name change from The Women’s Center to 180 Turning Lives Around in 2002, which was done to “convey the comprehensive and integrated programs and services available for families.”

Community Magazine NJ spoke with Anna, who announced that she would be retiring later this year.

 

 You and your family fled Cuba in 1960. Was that just to escape the Castro regime and its oppression?

Anna Diaz-White: Yes. My parents were not in agreement with communism. In 1960, they fled the country under a vacation visa. That was just before Castro closed it down and did not allow anybody to leave the country (a travel ban that lasted more than 50 years, until 2013, when Cubans were allowed to obtain a passport and travel).

I remember my mom telling me, years later, how she and everyone around her were in a constant state of panic during the Cuban Missile Crisis (in 1962), believing that a nuclear war was imminent.

ADW: It got close. Things got really hairy between (then Premier of the Soviet Union Nikita) Khrushchev and (then U.S. President John F.) Kennedy. I don’t think a lot of people realize how close we actually were to disaster.  

I was amazed to learn that the number of calls received by 180 surpassed the one-million mark. That’s a staggering number of people who needed help due to abuse.

ADW: It’s a lot of people, and many of them are children. In 2008 we launched the statewide 2nd floor Youth Helpline, which is now Youth Text/Helpline (see 2ndFloor.org), and that helped hundreds of thousands of kids throughout the state, along with the services we provide here in Monmouth County such as the shelter hotline, court-assisted counseling, and other services (all outlined at 180NJ.org under the Get Help or Get Info links).

What was your feeling when you were inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame last year? (She was introduced by Tammy Murphy, the governor’s wife, and past NJHOF recipient/ famed singer Gloria Gaynor.)

ADW: I have to tell you, that was quite an experience (she was one of 14 inductees spanning six categories). I had no idea of what a big deal it was. I got to see Bruce (Springsteen, husband of Patti Scialfa, who was also a NJHOF inductee last year), Danny DiVito and all these people that I’d heard of but didn’t realize they were from New Jersey. It was a really cool night.

Can you talk a little about how 180 operates in terms relying on volunteers to help carry out your mission?

ADW: Sure, so it’s a combination of paid staff and volunteers, and the volunteers do all kinds of different things. Some are in direct services – they meet survivors in any of the 51 police departments or any of the five area hospital emergency rooms throughout the county. And they’ll also accompany a survivor to court if they request it. If they’re called back to meet with a detective, or called into the prosecutor’s office, a volunteer could accompany them for support, including sometimes in the emergency room.

I understand 180 has one of the largest emergency domestic violence shelters in the state.

ADW: Yes, and it’s also the only shelter that accepts survivors of any gender or gender identity, and families with their pets. We are currently the only one that accepts families with pets and we are really encouraging other shelters to do so. A lot of folks won’t leave the situation without their dog or cat or whatever. If you had to flee tomorrow, how could you leave a pet behind that you’ve had all its life? That would be particularly traumatic to kids on top of how their lives have already been disrupted.

How much does 180 rely on fundraising events, on top of state and federal support, to help achieve its mission?

ADW: We rely on government funding for support, but that doesn’t cover everything, so we have to raise close to $1 million every year to keep the lights on, keep the services going, and keep the hotlines operating. The Seas The Day fundraiser (at the Rumson Country Club on May 2) is our annual gala where we recognize outstanding supporters.

And it’s up to those manning the phones at the 24/7 hotline to determine if the situation falls under the category of an emergency situation, or domestic or sexual abuse?

ADW: Well, I’d have to say that by the time they call us, abuse has usually been going on for a while. It’s the same as if someone were to call the police – rarely is it ever after just one incident. Typically, it is after a bunch of incidents that started to escalate, and then something is triggered to the point that they realize they have to call the cops. Similar with us, it’s rare for someone to call us because they had a bad argument with a boyfriend or girlfriend or loved one.

Sometimes we’ll get calls where they’re not entirely sure themselves. They tell themselves “Hey, I’m college educated, I’m a nurse or a doctor or an accomplished person” and they do not identify themselves as victims or survivors. People sometimes have this mistaken notion I think of what a “victim” is.

If he or she had been hit, they’d know what that is and immediately identify that as not OK, but it’s often the insidious and constant verbal or emotional, or threats of abuse, that can have people walking around on egg shells because they’re worried about someone flying into a rage where, while they might not hit you, they might punch a hole in the wall, or throw furniture around, or kick the dog – those kinds of things where there’s often this constant atmosphere of violence and rage without anyone actually getting hit.

That’s the part that tends to confuse people, and makes them ask “how is that abuse?” We’ve had survivors who tell us that healing from physical abuse is far easier – I broke my arm, it healed, I’m OK now – but the emotional effects of abuse and threatened violence are really what linger, often for years, especially on children. We’ve had people say that the kids don’t know because they were sleeping. The kids were not sleeping. Kids are aware of what’s going on. They might not be able to verbalize it, but they’re going to be acting out in different ways.

I’d guess that working in that environment, it would be hard not to allow dealing with such trauma in others to affect you personally.

ADW: I generally do not direct services personally, but certainly many of our staff and volunteers do, and for them especially hearing really tragic, horrible stories – to the point where you think you’ve heard it all, and then you hear something that is even more horrible than anything you’ve heard before – can and does have an effect on people and their mental health. We encourage our staff to take a break, take a mental-health day when you feel it becoming overwhelming or just becoming too much. Internally, we have peer-support groups for staff to be able to unload what’s going on or express how they’re feeling about what’s going on. It is stressful.

What made you decide to retire, and do you know who your successor will be at 180 Turning Lives Around?

ADW: This all started for me in 1984 and, 40 years later, I’m looking to retire and hand off the reigns to a new generation.

It became official (recently) that our new director will be Elizabeth Graham. She’s a great gal who’s been with us 15 years. She was a former client and now she’ll be the director of the organization, so things have come full circle. She started out as my assistant, then was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, and now CEO. She’s fabulous. It makes me feel so good to know that 180 is going to be in great hands.

To me the organization will always have a place in my heart, but I am ready to have Liz run with the ball. She has some great ideas, a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, and she’s so excited about this new role for her. And I’m excited for her. I’m looking forward to helping Liz in the next six months or so, and then I think I need to just take some time to breathe and decide what the next step is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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