Salish School of Spokane (SSOS) and Catholic Charities Eastern Washington (CCEW) are collaborating with other funders to develop a new supporting housing complex and a new SSOS campus complex on parcels previously purchased by CCEW at the Holy Names site. With its usual tax-credit based family haven development programming, CCEW is building a 72-unit supportive housing develop on the northern half of the Holy Names parcels.

The southern portion of the Holy Names parcels, adjacent to the River Haven housing development, has been gifted to Salish School of Spokane from CCEW. On that gifted 3.5 acre parcel, SSOS and its funding partners are building a new school campus complex with an Education Building, a Salish Cultural and Recreational Community Center (CRCC), playgrounds, sports courts and fields, and cultural spaces. At the far southern end of the parcel gifted to SSOS, space has been designated for the development of SSoS housing or cultural facilities .

The gift of land, substantial support for design, and funding and construction from CCEW to SSOS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The outcome will be a dream come true for SSOS: A purpose-built campus near the Spokane River and adjacent to more than 30 acres of pine forest being permanently conserved for posterity.

Our school community will gain a more secure campus with more classroom spaces, increased office space, a gym, and a commercial kitchen, as well as improved playgrounds, sport courts and fields. We will have designated cultural spaces for sweat lodges, drying racks, canoe carving, hide tanning, and a tule lodge or pit house. We should even have the capacity to develop some Salish immersion housing for our school community on the site.

 It is challenging for a small organization like SSOS to make this dream a reality. We need to dedicate time, energy and community resources to the collaborative partnership with CCEW and other funders. We are working to foster and sustain relationships with other nonprofit organizations who can help bring our project to fruition and ensure that the mission and needs of Salish School of Spokane are respected and centered as the project matures. We are working hard to pull together to create a beautiful new home for our Salish language revitalization community.

• Expanded classroom spaces for P-12 schooling, Salish immersion teacher training, and adult language and culture classes.

• New Cultural and Recreational Community Center (CRCC) with gym/ cafeteria, commercial kitche, locker rooms, and sports fields for SSOS and the general community.

• A unique collaboration among the project principals and other funders that will help power Salish language revitalization and community development.

• New SSOS Campus Development Cost: $17.69M. Federal funding of $2.7M and state funding of $3.5M are in place, along with New Markets Tax Credit financing worth $3.8M. The gift of land is conservatively valued at $500K, and we are working to sell our existing facilities for $1M. With cost mitigation and donations from our development partners and other funders, we have a total of $15.1M in place.

• We need your help to raise the remaining $2.59M needed for project completion. Donate here!