Coquille Tribal Community Fund Grant Program
In 2001, the Coquille Tribal Council established the Coquille Tribal Community Fund in order to share profits from its business ventures, particularly The Mill Casino•Hotel, with the surrounding community. The Fund gives the Tribe a means to target its charitable efforts toward projects that will make a clear difference for daily life in the Bay Area and the southwest Oregon region.
In its first year of operation, the Fund received 17 applications and provided about $80,000 to eight social service programs in Coos, Douglas and Lane Counties. These included the Pacific Center for Children and Families, the North Bend High School Stadium Committee, the Empire Sports Park Committee and the Center for Indigenous Cultural Survival.
It didn’t take long for the community to notice. In only its second year, the Fund received 42 applications and distributed over $140,000 in project grants. By 2004, the Fund expanded its scope of operations to include a five-county region as grants of over $210,000 were provided to 35 organizations, and 37 grants totaling more than $400,000 were provided the following year. In January 2006, the grant program passed the half-million mark as 55 non-profit organizations shared $514,205. This year $590,013 was granted to 42 organizations.
In its first eight years, the Coquille Tribal Community Fund has provided more than $3.1 million to improve life throughout southwest Oregon.