Innovation Grants

Innovation Grants will be back in October 2025! We’re taking 2024 off to raise funding for these grants.

All proposed projects must align with one or more of the Strategies or Ideas for Action from the Applegate Valley Vision. Go to the Vision webpage to see the 90 Strategies and more than 500 Ideas for Action to select from. Innovation Grants are open to individuals, businesses, working groups, and community organizations.

2023 Innovation Grant Awardees:

Applegate Trails Association: To support marketing of the Siskiyou Skyline Trail (a new name for the PCT to Grant Pass trail that includes the Applegate Ridge Trail and the Jack-Ash Trail), printing brochures, and Website updating. This project aligns with Steward and Sustain in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Electric Gardens & Southern OR Wholesale Flowers: To create a space and systems for a co-operative of local flower growers to sell wholesale florals to local florists. This project aligns with Prosperous and Vital: To support an innovative, locally-based, rural economy in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Wellington Wildlands Council, Inc. (WWC): To conduct a two-part study to determine the economic generators of the Applegate Valley. This project aligns with Steward and Sustain: Creating a Prosperous and Economically Vital Applegate Valley in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Southern Oregon Living and Dying Alliance (SOLADA): To help people in Southern Oregon experience a more expansive life and minimize suffering, SOLADA is hosting classes, workshops, and ritual events which promote positive death literacy and encourage healthy grieving. This project aligns with Vibrant and Livable: Provide better, more well-rounded health care services in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Rogue Valley Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association: To purchase 10 windsocks and flags for local land owners who encourage pilots to land on their property safely with these wind indicators. This project aligns with Steward and Sustain in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Pacifica: A Garden in the Siskiyous: To support PALS Programs, a community setting for home based learners, unschooled children, private school children, public school children, etc. to learn together. This project aligns with Vibrant and Livable: Create a range of opportunities that offer safe, healthy, meaningful, and fun educational experiences for Pre-K through 12th grade students in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Muddy Toes Williams Community Preschool Co-op: To provide a rain shelter for an outdoors, nature-based preschool cooperative. This project aligns with Vibrant and Livable: Develop more Pre-K, after school programs, and childcare options @ existing schools and in the community in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Seeds of Light: To provide scholarships for teaching the leaders of tomorrow through nature-based, regenerative life skill learning. This project aligns with Health and Wellness in the Applegate Valley Vision.

2022 Innovation Grant Awardees:

Applegate Paddling Club: To formalize Applegate River paddling enthusiasts into an organized club that fosters an active paddling community, promotes water safety, and engages in river stewardship to enhance paddling areas. This project aligns with Enhance access to the Applegate River for locals and visitors in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Applegate Partnership (Dragonfly Place): To support design and construction of signage honoring Grandma Aggie’s life and indigenous heritage. This project aligns with Inclusive and Engaged in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Applegate Trails Association (ATA): To refurbish the ATA website. This project aligns with the Steward and Sustain/Outdoor Recreation section of the Applegate Valley Vision.
Children’s Art Program: To provide scholarships to this after-school enrichment program. This project aligns with Inclusive and Engaged, Resilient and Connected, and Vibrant and Livable in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Community Website Partnership (Youth Job Training): To increase youth engagement through a Rural Youth Listening Session and by working with local youth to design and implement outreach strategies to support the community website, ApplegateConnect.org. This project aligns with Inclusive and Engaged, Resilient and Connected, and Vibrant and Livable in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Geoffrey Fisher’s Wilderness Program: To provide scholarships to this youth wilderness education program. This program aligns with educational opportunities for youth in the Vibrant and Livable focus area of the Applegate Valley Vision.
Kindness Matters Youth Theater: To connect local youth and build community by creating a theater company that performs at local schools with an inclusive anti-bullying message. This project creates a range of opportunities that offer safe, healthy, meaningful, and fun educational experiences for students to align with the Applegate Valley Vision.
Little Apple Players: To build the capacity of this community theatre company in the Little Applegate. This project will align with the Applegate Valley Vision by integrating art, music, and theater more into the community and the growing visitor economy.
McKee Bridge Historical Society Historical Trails: To bring to life historical trails in the Applegate Valley by researching their histories, collecting vintage photos and newspaper stories, and sharing what they learn in multimedia presentations. This project aligns with Inclusive and Engaged, Resilient and Connected, and Steward and Sustain in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Nativewomanshare: To support a community center for Native and 2SQT+ BIPOC women to gather and harvest wild foods and honor the indigenous history of the land. This project aligns with Inclusive and Engaged, Vibrant and Livable, and Steward and Sustain in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Oshala Farm Herb Camp: To empower people to take charge of their health, use plants as allies towards wellness, and make their own medicine with medicinal herbs. This project aligns with the Applegate Valley Vision to increase the health and wellness of Applegate Valley residents through educational wellness events.
Ruch Outdoor Community School Community Garden: To expand and enhance the community garden at the school. This project aligns with Resilient and Connected, Vibrant and Livable, Steward and Sustain, and Inclusive and Engaged strategies in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Ruch Outdoor Community School Environmental Education Coloring Book: To create a coloring book about what lives at Cantrall Buckley County Park. This project aligns with Prosperous and Vital, Steward and Sustain, Inclusive and Engaged, and Vibrant and Livable in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Southern Oregon Lavender Trail (SOLT): To facilitate coordination of the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail and the Applegate Valley Vintners Association Uncorked event to build the capacity of both events. This project aligns with Prosperous and Vital in the Applegate Valley Vision.
Sugarloaf Community Association Sports Court: To complete construction of a Sports Court providing recreational activities including basketball, pickleball, and shuffleboard. This project enhances the ability for community connection in the built environment and expands and improves access to the Applegate Valley’s outdoor recreation opportunities.
Wellington Wildlands Council: To conduct a study to help focus priorities and establish strategies to strengthen, preserve, and protect the Applegate Valley’s resources. This project addresses the following components of the Applegate Valley Vision: Creating a Prosperous and Economically Vital Applegate Valley, Creating a sustainable Applegate Valley for all residents, and Convene & Coordinate among all the trails associations and recreation organizations to encourage collaboration, resource sharing, and elevation of outdoor activities.
Williams Ecstatic Dance Collective: To bring more Black, LatinX, Indigenous, and/or LGBTQIA+ DJ artists to the Applegate Valley. This project aligns with Prosperous and Vital and Vibrant and Livable in the Applegate Valley Vision.

2021 Momentum Grant Awardees:

Applegate Evening Market to promote the market and improve market infrastructure.
Applegate Volunteer Fire Association to provide signage and safety equipment along Applegate River.
Applegater News Magazine to publish a local history book, Back in Time.
Female Agricultural Entrepreneurs in Applegate to fund a startup event to support women in agriculture.
McKee Bridge Historical Society to develop and install history displays at libraries and local events.
Siskiyou Upland Trails Association to create a new website showing trail system and informative articles.
Williams Community Forest Project to purchase a drone to document wilderness area.

2020 Momentum Grant Awardees:

A Greater Applegate is pleased to have awarded the following Momentum Grants for 2020:

Applegater Newsmagazine to support production and distribution of one issue of the paper.
AGA Community Wellness Group to put on a community healing event.
Applegate Partnership and Watershed Council to implement informative signage over at the Provolt Seed Orchard site.
Pipefork Creek Project to develop and distribute outreach and educational materials regarding the group’s effort to purchase pieces of land from the county for ecological protection.
Well Water Wellness to purchase a 3-D simulated groundwater model which would be housed in Ruch Outdoor Community School and be available to Applegate Valley Schools for groundwater education.
McKee Bridge Historical Society to clean and maintain grave markers at Logtown Cemetery.
Pacifica: A Garden in the Siskiyous to support outreach opportunities as a requirement of an amended Conditional Use Permit (CUP).
Wanderlust Theater to support the 2021 production of Dracula in the Applegate Valley.