Community-Minded Enterprises Launches Hands Across Spokane, A Citywide Mental Health Awareness Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22nd, 2025
Spokane, WA — Community-Minded Enterprises is excited to announce the return of Hands Across Spokane. Hands Across Spokane is a month-long public awareness campaign and free community resource fair that brings residents, service providers, local organizations, and neighbors together to make support more visible and create a shared way for Spokane to show up, connect, and care for one another.
Hands Across Spokane 2026 will take place on Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Riverfront Park’s Central Plaza in downtown Spokane. The event is free and open to the public.
Launched in 2025 with a focus on mental health awareness and connection, Hands Across Spokane is expanding in 2026 to reflect a broader vision of community health, support, and belonging. This year’s event will continue to honor the importance of mental health while widening the conversation to include the many factors that help people and communities be healthy; among them access to resources, social connection, recovery support, family stability, basic needs, and meaningful engagement with local services.
A Campaign That Makes Care Visible
In the month leading up to the event, Hands Across Spokane will launch its social media campaign, inviting community members, organizations, businesses, schools, service providers, and neighbors to share photos of themselves joining hands using the hashtag #HandsAcrossSpokane. Through these shared photos, the campaign makes care and support visible across Spokane and reminds the community that support doesn’t only happen inside programs or organizations; it happens between neighbors, coworkers, friends, and families, and everyone willing to show up for one another.
A Day of Connection and Community
The campaign culminates on September 12 with a community event and resource fair bringing residents and local service providers together for an afternoon of connection, resources, and participation. Attendees can visit resource tables, learn about local services, enjoy food trucks and live entertainment, and engage with organizations working across Spokane.
At the heart of the event is a shared hand-joining moment, where attendees stand together as a visible reminder that care and connection are already present across Spokane; and that every person has a role in strengthening them.
Introducing the Helping Hand Award: Community Connector of the Year
New this year, Community-Minded is proud to introduce the Helping Hand Award, a community recognition honoring an individual who reflects the spirit of Hands Across Spokane.
The award will recognize a Spokane resident whose commitment to others has left a lasting mark on the people, neighborhoods, or networks around them. Nominations will be open to community members who wish to recognize someone who exemplifies connection and community-minded service.
Nominations for the Helping Hand Award will open June 1 and close July 31 through an online nomination form. After nominations close, a review panel made up of Spokane-area community leaders will select the inaugural recipient, bringing added depth and community voice to the award’s first year.
The recipient will be formally presented with the Helping Hand Award live at Hands Across Spokane on September 12, shortly before the shared hand-joining ceremony. As Hands Across Spokane continues to grow, the award creates a new way to recognize the people whose everyday actions help create a more connected Spokane.
A New Home at Riverfront Park
This year’s move to Riverfront Park’s Central Plaza marks an important milestone in the event’s growth. The location offers a more visible and central gathering space that reflects the event’s expanding focus on community health and connection.
Get Involved
Local nonprofits, service providers, public agencies, community groups, and mission-aligned businesses are invited to participate as table vendors, sponsors, or event partners.
More information, including vendor registration, sponsorship opportunities, and social media campaign details, is available at handsacrossspokane.org.
Media Contact:
Madi Allen
Communications Manager
Community-Minded Enterprises
Direct: (509) 666-4183
MadiA@community-minded.org
About Community-Minded Enterprises
Community-Minded Enterprises is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering families and individuals through a range of programs in early learning, recovery support, and family services. CME works to improve the quality of life in Central and Eastern Washington and surrounding areas by providing essential resources and services.
Mission
Community-Minded Enterprises transforms communities in Washington State while advancing diversity and inclusion of marginalized populations, so that all people have an opportunity for equitable health, education, and safety.