Community Services Building, Inc

In the early 1990’s a group of community volunteers, along with social service agency directors, began meeting to discuss the need for a single location that could meet the needs of those who were desperate for help and whose needs were best served by multiple social service agencies.. They formed a task force who created a mission statement and polled over 100 local agencies to gauge interest in a shared building. More than 20 agencies responded positively. CSBI has this group of visionaries to thank for this unique concept that opened in 1997 and continues to serve the City of Norman and Cleveland County today.

The progress from vision to reality was painstaking. The Task Force focused on the VA Hospital building that was located on the Griffin Memorial Hospital grounds and was under the management of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS). The VA Hospital was planning to vacate the building and move into a new facility in 1997. Over $1 million was necessary to renovate and create the necessary environment to house the agencies that would call CSBI home. They were able to strike a long-term deal with the ODMHSAS and the fundraising began in earnest.

Funding came in the form of large grants from the City of Norman and the Sarkey’s Foundation and other significant donations from partner agencies and area foundations and businesses. However, many of the donations came in terms of time, talent and energy on the part of the Task Force and Community Volunteers. Young and old alike worked side by side to raise money, run wiring, paint walls and solicit volunteer help to make the finished CSBI a functioning facility for social services agencies. Volunteer help was almost exclusively responsible for running communication lines throughout the facility for computer services which allows the building to upgrade and continue to offer viable office space as technology evolves.

Juvenile Services, Inc. (now Children for Children and Families, Inc.) was the first agency to open in the building and they remain a prime destination at CSBI…recently expanding by over 1800 sq. ft. By early 1998, 21 agencies called CSBI their home and this totally unique concept in Norman was a reality.