Support Cottonwood Restoration
Invest in Youth, Land, and Community Resilience
Your donation directly fuels transformative programs that empower rural youth in Crestone and the San Luis Valley. Every contribution helps remove barriers, build skills, and create lasting opportunities in one of Colorado’s most beautiful — and most challenged — rural communities.
As a new 501(c)(3) organization in our foundational years, Cottonwood Restoration brings deep experience and proven dedication to youth development. We carry forward over 25 years of nonprofit leadership, youth programming, and education development, along with more than 12 years of intentional youth leadership pathway cultivation. This strong foundation allows us to move quickly and effectively even as we establish our formal nonprofit structure.
We are actively seeking visionary private donors, generous community supporters, and aligned foundation partners and benefactors who share our commitment to building tangible, sustainable roots of success. With your support, we can ensure our programming remains accessible and impactful — especially for at-risk youth and low-income families who need these opportunities most. Our vision is to create a resilient, place-based micro school and regenerative campus where every young person, regardless of their family’s financial situation, can thrive through holistic education, ecological stewardship, and leadership development.
Ways to Give – Our Current Priorities
Donate to Our Programs
Youth Martial Arts Scholarships – $1,600
Provides one full year of Enshin Crestone training, including uniform, equipment, and tournament travel for a young student. Martial arts builds discipline, confidence, physical fitness, and leadership that lasts a lifetime.
Youth Leadership Mentorship – $3,750
Funds one year of direct 1-on-1 mentorship and skill-based vocational learning for a youth mentor. This program develops the next generation of leaders through hands-on regenerative agriculture, ecological restoration, financial literacy, and peer mentoring.
Eco-Restoration Annual Partnership – $12,000
Supports hands-on ecological restoration along Cottonwood Creek and our campus lands. This tier funds watershed management, riparian zone cultivation, indigenous fire mitigation practices, beaver reintroduction strategies, and elemental land stewardship projects. Partners at this level receive annual impact reports, invitations to restoration work parties, and naming recognition on a major restoration feature (such as a section of restored creek bank or riparian habitat zone).
Greenhouse & Food Forest Classroom Infrastructure
Help us build the permanent living laboratory at the heart of our campus. These facilities will serve hundreds of youth and community members each year through regenerative agriculture, permaculture education, and food-as-medicine programs.
Donation Tiers & Naming Opportunities:
- $5,000 – Seed Sponsor
- $10,000 – Foundation Sponsor (naming opportunity for a key section of the food forest or greenhouse beds)
- $12,000 annually – Eco-Restoration Partner (naming recognition on creek restoration or riparian project)
- $25,000 – Legacy Builder (naming rights for a full greenhouse classroom or major food forest zone)
- $50,000+ – Visionary Partner (custom naming and legacy recognition across the regenerative campus)
Larger or multi-year gifts include prominent recognition on our donor wall, detailed annual impact reports, and invitations to special stewardship events.
Program & Curriculum Development Partners
We are actively seeking strategic partners to help design and expand our curriculum and educational micro-school infrastructure for our growing youth programs.
We especially welcome partners with expertise in elemental science, mind-body sciences, ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, and core academics.
Annual partnership commitments at the $15,000, $25,000 and $50,000 levels are invited to support the development of our microschool curriculum and infrastructure. By collaborating with us at these levels, you can help shape cutting-edge, place-based learning frameworks in permaculture, youth leadership, holistic wellness, and integrated academics — creating powerful, experiential education that prepares young people for real-world impact.
Our Path Toward Sustainability
Cottonwood Restoration is committed to long-term self-reliance. While we currently depend on generous grants and donations — especially given the high poverty rates in rural Saguache County — we are actively building multiple revenue streams to reduce reliance on philanthropy over time.
We advance sustainability through:
- Trainer-of-trainer and intergenerational mentorship models, where older students are trained to lead programs, increasing capacity while lowering costs.
- Packaged curriculum and pedagogy frameworks that can be shared or licensed for earned revenue.
- Intergenerational workshop-based intensives, where adults pay higher fees to participate alongside youth in food forest creation, somatic practices, and nature-based learning.
- Strategic investment in campus infrastructure (greenhouse, food forest, and outdoor classrooms) to create a permanent learning hub that supports both free/low-cost youth programs and paid adult/community workshops.
Our vision is a balanced, resilient model where public funding, earned income, and targeted philanthropy work together to ensure we can continue serving families regardless of their ability to pay.
Make a Donation Today
Whether through a one-time gift, recurring monthly support, or annual partnership, your contribution makes a direct and lasting impact on the lives of local youth and the health of our land.
Thank you for believing in the future of Crestone’s youth and the regenerative potential of our community. Together, we are growing warriors in the garden — one seed, one student, and one generation at a time.
Spread the Word
Help us raise awareness of our mission and programs by sharing our website, social media pages, and events with your friends, family, and colleagues.
Cottonwood Restoration: Empowering Communities
Current Foundations and Strategic Milestones to 2028
We are in the foundational phase, leveraging our Greenhouse Classroom, food forest, and martial arts dojo as prototypes for the emerging micro school. Currently serving 15 homeschool youth and families annually, we plan to expand to include 15 Moffat School District students through summer and after-school programs, eventually evolving into full-time enrollment options.
- 2026: Building Capacity and Credentials Our staff is actively pursuing educational licensure for compliance and credibility. We are refining integrated curricular frameworks that blend science and earth studies, cooking and herbalism, carbon modules, dojo-based fitness, BodyTalk, and expeditionary learning. We continue partnering with homeschool and unschooling families for supplemental enrichment, while beginning soil structuring and first-season planting in the food forest. Intergenerational mentorship programs are launching to engage community experts and family volunteers. Initial dojo sessions and Cottonwood Creek outings serve as pilots for mind-body integration.
- 2026–2027: Program Expansion and Integration We will scale to hybrid models combining part-time micro school days with unschooling flexibility and structured vocational preparation. New offerings include mind-body fitness labs (Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and BodyTalk), applied math through entrepreneurial projects such as student-led produce markets or herbal remedy workshops, and enhanced carbon curriculum with microbe and fungi labs. Students will connect soil health directly to kitchen pharmacy, including fermenting for medicinal elixirs. Regular expeditions to Cottonwood Creek will support ecological learning and self-exploration. Our goal is to serve 30 youth total, including initial full-time pilots for middle schoolers.
- 2027–2028: Infrastructure and Vocational Pathways We will develop dedicated micro school facilities by expanding the hoop house into multi-use learning hubs, fully integrating the dojo for daily practices, and designating outdoor classrooms in the food forest and along Cottonwood Creek. Programming will incorporate esoteric human biology, nature-based mindfulness retreats, and advanced BodyTalk for trauma resilience. High school vocational tracks will launch with apprenticeships, applied math simulations (such as business modeling for eco-enterprises), and community distribution networks. We will pursue accreditation partnerships while aiming to serve 30 youth.
- 2028: Full Functionality and Sustainability We plan to launch as a complete micro school offering full-time enrollment rooted in our core principles. Graduates will emerge as authentic stewards — equipped with skills in ecological design, holistic health (through dojo arts and BodyTalk), entrepreneurship, and vocational expertise — ready to contribute to resilient communities. Ongoing evaluation will ensure adaptability, with excess resources shared to uplift Cottonwood Creek and the broader region.
Through this strategic arc, Cottonwood Restoration addresses the generational scars of standardized education by fostering joy, connection, and purpose. We’re not just teaching — we’re cultivating healers, innovators, and earth guardians for a more resilient future.
Ready to Make a Lasting Impact? Donate Today
Your generosity today directly empowers rural youth, strengthens our regenerative campus, and helps build a sustainable micro school where young people can thrive regardless of their family’s income.
By supporting Cottonwood Restoration, you’re investing in hands-on martial arts training, ecological restoration, food forest education, vocational skill-building, and holistic leadership development that equips the next generation with confidence, resilience, and a deep connection to the land.
We invite you to join our growing community of donors, sponsors, and strategic partners who believe in creating real opportunity in the San Luis Valley.