Last year, The Friendship Center completed the first phase of a three-year capital project in reacquiring our original Gallatin Avenue house across the street from our current staff offices and onsite shelter facility. Learn how you can join our early champions for the next phase of this project.
The Friendship Center's history now spans over 50 years. In that time, our community's support has enabled our advocates to serve thousands of survivors in our tri-county area. Last year alone, we were able to connect 722 known individuals with free, confidential services like crisis intervention, counseling, legal advocacy, and safety planning. Of those clients served, 157 accessed more than 8,500 nights of safe shelter with TFC's assistance.
Our ability to provide that level of support for our community is a direct reflection of the support we have received over the years. We have a community that not only recognizes a need that isn't going away, but also steps up to the plate time and time again because you share our conviction that nobody should have to walk alone on their journey to a life free from violence. Over the past year, dozens of supporters have once again come to bat for us in a big way, helping us raise over $325,000 to bring us closer to yet another milestone in our story.
Across from our current staff offices and onsite shelter in Helena's Sixth Ward is a 2,900 square-foot house at 1503 Gallatin Avenue. The property was our original shelter space. With the leadership of Holly Kaleczyc and a strong showing of support from our community, we expanded and moved into our current facility in 2007. Back then, no one could have foreseen how quickly we would outgrow this space. The longest-serving member of our direct services team has even said that when the new facility was built, staff could not imagine our onsite shelter space would consistently be at capacity as it is now.
Serving 500-700 individuals through thousands of services is an average year for us now, but when it comes to the true prevalence of violence in our community, we know we're still just skimming the surface. As long as violence is part of our reality, that’s a gap we're committed to closing. Last year, we took another big step toward delivering on that commitment with the purchase of our old home across the street.
In late December 2023, we were able to reacquire the original Friendship Center thanks to the early support of individual, corporate, philanthropic, and government partners. In reacquiring the Gallatin Avenue house, we completed the first phase of a three-year capital project, and we're now inviting you to join our early champions for the next phase.
Creating a contiguous campus between our current facility and the house across the street will multiply the already-significant volume of services we provide for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It will also maximize our efforts to prevent future instances of violence through community education. Before we can do that, though, we will need to renovate and upgrade the house that has been used as a private residence since we moved out.
Once updated for staff and client use, the house will allow us to:
Serve 300 more clients per year with even more services like support groups, educational opportunities, and wellness classes
Double the reach of our community education with 70 presentations every year for more than 2,000 people
Double our ability to coordinate with peer agencies and equip other service providers with knowledge by providing 15 trainings every year for more than 250 professionals
Grow and maintain volunteer capacity to support services and outreach
This project will increase our impact considerably, but we’re especially proud that all of this will be possible without interrupting our current services, and at a relatively modest cost to maximize the community’s investment to help us grow back in 2007.
Our community's commitment to date accounts for over half of our campaign goal of $600,000. To continue channeling the baseball analogies, we’re in the top of the fifth inning, and our goal is to get to the seventh inning stretch by raising another $150,000 before July 2025.
If you share our passion for fostering a healthy community, working together to eliminate violence, and serving others with care and dignity, we’d be honored to have your support.
INTERESTED IN HELPING US REACH OUR GOAL!?
If you’re ready to contribute to our capital campaign, there are a few ways you can help! All supporters who commit $1,000 or more through a one-time gift or multi-year pledge to this project will be recognized with a brick on the Gallatin Avenue property.
GIVE BY MAIL If you want to make a campaign gift by mail, you can send your check donation to The Friendship Center, 1430 N Sanders St, Helena, MT 59601. If you choose to give by mail, be sure to indicate with a note or on check memo line that your gift is for the capital campaign.
GIVE ONLINE & SHARE THE CAMPAIGN PAGE
Visit the campaign fundraising page to make a one-time gift or start a recurring monthly gift toward our campaign goal today. We also invite you to share that page with others who may want to give.
DONATE STOCK
We can also accept gifts of stock for the campaign. To get more information about this option or request a packet of materials with campaign info and a pledge card by mail, email TFC Development Director Kim Patterson at kim.p@thefriendshipcenter.org.
COMMIT MATERIALS OR SERVICES
If you’re interested in helping us offset the cost of renovating the Gallatin Avenue house with goods or services, or if you know a contractor who might be, we also encourage you to get in touch with our Development Director using the email address above. We won’t be breaking ground on renovations until we’ve secured enough funds to do so, but any donated or discounted project work will help us stretch every dollar raised further to keep up with any escalation in construction costs.
SPREAD THE WORD
If you know others who are passionate about ending violence in our community and supporting those affected by it, share the capital campaign webpage with them, or encourage them to reach out to us to request more info.
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