Check out the stories, Q&As, and issue-specific deep dives from The Friendship Center’s blog that our readers visited the most in 2024.
Launched in August 2023, The Friendship Center’s blog has grown into one of the most important ways we get the word out about agency news, and highlight some of the incredible partners and collaborators we work alongside to serve our community. We hope it’s a place where our readers can look forward to learning about key issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. If you’re as motivated as we are to understand and ultimately dismantle the culture of abuse that surrounds all of us, we also hope our blog is a place where you find inspiration to reflect, insights that maybe challenge some of your own assumptions, and fuel to continue learning about the interpersonal dynamics that foment violence. Above all else, we hope that the storytelling and education we do through our blog amplifies our dedication to eliminating violence and gives those who share our vision for communities free from violence a sense of solidarity. Our work is not easy, but we are far from alone in it, and thanks to our many supporters and partners, neither are our clients.
With the first full calendar year of our blog in the books, we’re taking a break from adding new featured content to our ever-growing archive to highlight some of the stories, Q&As, and issue-specific deep dives that you, gentle readers, visited the most in 2024. This top 10 list is just a sampling of the 50+ posts published to TFC’s blog so far, but it’s also a representative snapshot of what we’ve hoped to share and showcase over the past year. Thanks to the 1,100+ visitors who’ve logged over 2,100 sessions (numbers that will have already grown by the time this recap is published!) while reading any of the 38,000 words added to our online presence in 2024!
We hope you enjoy finding where some of your personal favorites from the past year landed in the countdown, and maybe even catching up on some of your fellow readers’ favorites that you missed. Some things we invite you to consider as you read:
What were your favorite reads from our blog in 2024?
Is there a topic or a community partner you’re curious about, and would love to see us highlight in 2025?
Do you, like one of our readers, have an obscure connection to one of the historic bawdy houses of the Mountain West (keep reading for the backstory), or anything else we’ve written about over the last several months?
We’d love to hear what you think, especially if anything we have put out there sparked further reading, research, or conversations for you. You can always get in touch with our online editor at jackie.b@thefriendshipcenter.org with any feedback, questions, or topics you’d like us to consider exploring in 2025. From all of us at The Friendship Center, thanks for reading!
By TFC // May 2024
Back in June, The Friendship Center had the opportunity to join staff from several local agencies to implement a new risk assessment tool in our community that can help prevent some of the worst outcomes of intimate partner violence. Known as the Arizona intimate Partner Risk Assessment Instrument System (APRAIS), the tool measures a perpetrator’s likelihood to commit a severe re-assault within seven months that would result in serious injury or death to their victim. In addition to building on the foundation of existing danger assessment research, APRAIS is notable in that it’s meant to be used by many of the key agencies that interact with a survivor following a reported assault—empowering the systems most responsible for keeping victims and the public safe with shared language and results that can inform release conditions and bond decisions.
Our May featured story previewed the focus of our two-day APRAIS training and implementation attended by staff from TFC, law enforcement, our county and city attorneys’ offices, the Office of Public Defenders, Child and Family Services, the Children’s Advocacy Center, Pre-trial Services, and the Department of Corrections. If you missed our 10th most-read blog post of 2024, be sure to check it out (and as a bonus, you can learn about our partners in East Helena who fully implemented the APRAIS tool within law enforcement and court systems just two months after the June training).
By Jaime Gabrielli // January 2024
For Stalking Awareness Month, we asked TFC advocate Jaime Gabrielli to discuss stalking—a highly dangerous crime that's often described as "homicide in slow motion." Why? The metaphor speaks to both the well-documented correlation between stalking and the risk of intimate partner homicide, as well the way it can rob a survivor of their basic sense of life and autonomy.
Did you know that more than 76% of femicide victims were stalked prior to being killed? Or that, in most cases, stalkers are very much known to their victims—often as former intimate partners for anywhere between 44-61% of stalking cases? Jaime breaks down some of the statistics and insights that compel advocates at programs like The Friendship Center to take stalking extremely seriously. Check out what she had to say in our ninth most-read blog post of 2024 to learn about the prevalence of stalking, the different forms it can take, and how we can all support survivors with care, confidentiality, and accurate information.
By Jackie Brennan // October 2024
Earlier this fall, our own Jackie Brennan dove into the connection between popular western tropes and community violence, arguing that we have to think seriously about the many beliefs that have shaped modern life in western states like Montana—not because the beliefs are true, but because some have a body count. People have been coming to the American West for decades with self-serving fantasies about the escape or salvation it promises them. Where did some of these fantasies start? How much do they actually line up with the reality of the historic periods that fuel romanticized delusions of this region? Why are dramatic landscapes so easily commodified and marketed (deceptively) as blank slates that are sealed off from the rest of the world?
In our eighth most-read blog post of 2024, Jackie asks these questions and explores how our prevailing ideas of regional identity can lead to the fatal outcomes that agencies like The Friendship Center are determined to prevent. Drawing on both personal and regional history, as well as state reports on closed domestic violence homicide cases, this essay reminds us all that ahistorical narratives—whether they’re insidious or more overtly toxic—can have violent consequences.
By TFC // August 2024
The Friendship Center is able to meet our community's needs thanks to many dedicated volunteers and partners. Like many of our most steadfast supporters, the subject of our August featured story has championed our work in more than one way over the years. In 2023, Mike Vannatta took on the role of president for Mount Helena Eagles 4040 in East Helena. The Friendship Center is lucky to be just one of many local causes the Eagles chapter has directed fundraising proceeds to during Mike’s tenure as president. But before Mike took the reins at our local aerie, he served as a long-time volunteer advocate for TFC, offering support, solidarity, and resources to survivors through our 24-hour crisis line, assisting many people on their paths to lives of safety and independence.
In our seventh most-read blog post of last year, Mike shares the impact that working with survivors has had on him as well as the deep fulfillment he's found in fostering community and supporting worthy causes through Mount Helena Eagles 4040. He also offers words of encouragement to those looking to get more involved in their community, and some inspiration for anybody who just needs a reminder that their efforts to serve others make a difference.
By Jaime Gabrielli // September 2024
Starting college is an exciting and sometimes overwhelming rite of passage for young adults. It’s a time of new beginnings, independence, and personal discovery. For newcomers or students just returning to college campuses, it's also a period of intensified vulnerability to sexual assault—earning the time frame between August and November the nickname of the "Red Zone" among those working to address campus assault.
For the time of year where many students were back on college campuses across the country, Jaime Gabrielli used our September featured story to highlight some of the misconceptions and factors that contribute to sexual violence on college campuses. If you're not part of a campus community yourself, odds are you know somebody who is. Our sixth most-read blog post of 2024 is chockful of information that anybody with a connection to a college campus can benefit from. Why have rates of sexual violence continued to rise even as reports of other crimes on college campuses decreased? How often do perpetrators use alcohol to facilitate assaults? What are some of the obstacles to improving safety and reporting rates, and where can university officials make improvements? If you missed it in September, check out what Jaime had to say to learn some of the information most essential for survivors, their loved ones, and bystanders to know about sexual assault on college campuses.
By TFC // September 2024
How much do you know about the scope of youth homelessness in your community? Even if you keep up with the best available data on local K-12 students without stable housing, chances are those figures are an undercount. Here in Helena, the rise from 150 to 365 students identified as homeless between just two school years garnered local media attention for both the scale of the issue and what the Helena School District does to help students succeed in the classroom despite unstable home lives.
Some might be surprised to know how much school staff can do under a federal law called the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to support some of their most vulnerable students. However, in order to provide those students with additional services, they first have to be identified under the broad educational definition of homelessness. The number of Helena students identified as homeless rose from that previous count of 356 to 421 in the 2023-24 school year, but according to Michele Zentz, that still probably represents an underestimate that’s not easily resolved. As Helena Public Schools Homeless Liaison, Michele plays a key role in the school district's efforts to level the playing field for K-12 students experiencing housing transitions and instability. She’s also a wealth of knowledge about the challenges K-12 students face when they don’t have stable housing, how schools define homelessness, how family and/or partner violence contributes to housing instability, and more. In our fifth most-read blog post of 2024, Michele was kind enough to take some time out of the busy start to another school year to answer some questions for our September partner spotlight.
By TFC // June 2024
Most of us can grasp the trauma and hardship survivors experience at the hands of violent offenders. However, something easily obscured in our justice system's delineation between victim and perpetrator is that survivors themselves are often criminalized for reasons closely tied to their victimization. Our June partner spotlight contributor put it well: "Many survivors of domestic violence have criminal records of their own and many people facing the criminal system as a defendant have survived violence themselves."
Having a criminal record can present serious barriers for survivors as they work to establish safety and independence, particularly when it comes to finding stable employment and housing. Until recently, even misdemeanor convictions couldn't be expunged in Montana, but a new law has changed that. Now, survivors can petition to have their records cleared of misdemeanor convictions, and Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) has a project dedicated to helping them. In our fourth most-read blog post of 2024, MLSA Skadden Fellow Amy Reavis talked to us about the previous work as a domestic violence advocate that led her to start a career in law, the impact a clean criminal record can have for a survivor, and how pro bono attorneys throughout the state can help survivors petitioning for expungement.
By TFC // November 2024
For many years now, The Friendship Center has been the beneficiary in November and December of Futura Lane’s signature no tipping policy, where customers are encouraged to make a donation to a nonprofit in lieu of tipping their cosmetologist. Owners Lane and Janet Mathis admit that it’s a unique approach to doing business, but it’s been standard at Futura Lane since they opened their doors in 1984. In that time, they’ve supported dozens of organizations through their No Tip Program, with over $200,000 going toward causes and the community that they care about.
Besides embracing a philosophy rooted in giving back, Lane and Janet take the connections they form with their customers very seriously, citing those relationships as a big reason for their longevity in the business: Next year will be 50 years behind the chair for them, with the most recent 40 under the banner of Futura Lane. Published just over a month ago, our Q&A with Lane and Janet for our November partner spotlight has quickly become a reader favorite and is already our third most-read blog post of 2024! If you missed it the first time, check it out to learn all about the people behind Futura Lane, their steadfast belief in making people feel safe and encouraged while also helping them look their best, and why they believe in the work of The Friendship Center.
By Jackie Brennan // March 2024
What can we learn about eliminating sexual violence from the history of red-light districts in towns like Helena? As it turns out, quite a lot, but for reasons that are maybe easy to overlook in a society where prostitution has been criminalized since the 1920s. The contemporary conversation around reform in the sex industry is often dominated, not by safety concerns, but by moral arguments. What questions should truly inform modern policy decisions intended to promote safety and eliminate violence? Back in March, our own Jackie Brennan suggested that history has some answers for us.
In our second most-read blog post of 2024, Jackie discusses the rise and collapse of female proprietorship in Helena's sex industry for a fascinating glimpse at the roots and effects of the late 19th century reform movement that criminalized prostitution across most of the country. Along the way, Jackie points out the echoes of the cultural anxieties that defined the Progressive Era in debates that still rage today about the legitimacy of commercial sex and other sexualized services—with some reformers calling for full decriminalization of consensual sex for sale, and others calling for an approach that punishes customers, but often treats workers like victims. It's a fascinating read if you missed it the first time, and it prompted by far the coolest reader response we received this year, where somebody shared that some of the Christmas decorations in her childhood home came from Dorothy's Rooms!
By Jaime Gabrielli // July 2024
In abusive relationships, survivors are often blamed for provoking or enabling violence, especially when they resist or fight back. The term "mutual abuse" is sometimes applied to relationships where both parties appear to simultaneously be abusers and victims. In reality, domestic abuse is never present between equals because it stems from one partner’s need to own and control the other by any means necessary—rendering mutual abuse categorically impossible. Sadly, mutual abuse is sometimes depicted as reality in popular media and within the court system, causing more fallout and confusion for victims. Though co-abuse is a misperception, it can have serious consequences—sometimes even impacting investigations, preventing prosecution, and clouding civil proceedings.
In our single most-read blog post of 2024, TFC advocate Jaime Gabrielli explains how the notion of mutual abuse has become so thoroughly woven into the stories we hear about domestic violence, even while all the experts in our field agree there is no such thing. Originally published in our spring print newsletter, then getting its online debut in July, Jaime's breakdown of mutual abuse has continued to receive almost the same exact number of visitors each month since it was published! This signals to us the importance of sharing insights from our direct services staff that dispel the misperceptions we hear the most—sometimes even from survivors themselves. If you missed it earlier this year, check out what Jaime had to say. Maybe you'll even notice some of the subtle ways you or somebody you know has internalized the fiction of mutual abuse.
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