Our Story

When a public defender named Jim Sheehan received an unexpected inheritance, he purchased, renovated, and repurposed a cluster of six buildings in a dilapidated corner of downtown Spokane, Washington — now known as the Community Building Campus.

For more than twenty years, the CBC has served as an interdisciplinary hub where grassroots organizations, campaigns, coalitions, local businesses, and community-driven solutions can take hold and catalyze change across the region.

Purchase the book here.

Written by twenty vital participants in this twenty-year, place-based experiment in co-philanthropy, One-Block Revolution honors the chorus of diverse changemakers that have been integral to the Community Building project. Part counterculture manifesto and framework for participatory placemaking, part handbook for nonprofits and social enterprises, this anthology tells one of Spokane’s most essential stories, while providing inspiration and practical guidance for organizations across the world.

“Over the past two decades I have had a front row seat to watch the transformation of the Community Building Campus and to witness the ripples of positive impacts it has created. This book perfectly captures the long arc of local, grassroots, community-led change sparked by the Community Building, which has helped to make Spokane and Washington State a more just and equitable place for all.”

—Senator Andy Billig, Washington State Senate Majority Leader

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Learn more about the Community Building Campus through Jim Sheehan's TEDx Talk: The Mystical Power of Inclusive Places