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 owned by CCEW at the Holy Names site. With its usual tax-credit based family haven development programming, CCEW will build 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 parcel, SSOS and its funding partners will build a new school campus complex with a school, 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 housing specifically for the SSOS community.

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 state-of-the-art school and community facility 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 outstanding classroom spaces, offices, a gym, and 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 can even develop some Salish immersion housing for our school community on the site.

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

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

• New Cultural and Recreational Center with gym, cafeteria 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.

• Development Cost: $10M; federal funding of $2.7M is in place.