As drought conditions worsen across the west and weather patterns become less predictable, we ask ourselves as a land trust: What tools can we provide to help our community best steward their working lands for a more variable future? In this session, we will explore the evolution of one small grants program and the launch of an emergency initiative that gained more permanence as it evolved. First, we will provide historical context of how Marin Agricultural Land Trust has worked to protect and steward the working lands of Marin county. We will explain the impacts of the Stewardship Assistance Program which has been operating since 2002. Second, this session will highlight how staff responded to emergency drought conditions by developing a strategic initiative to address water insecurities and stewardship objectives. We will focus on how imperative it was for different teams at the organization to come together in order to achieve a common goal. Fundraising, communications and the conservation teams worked together to create an initiative focused on drought resilience. We will discuss program guidelines, scoring criteria and highlight a few projects. We will round out the session by discussing next steps for these small grants programs. The goal remains to increase agricultural utility, build in climate resilience and protect valuable ecological values while remaining nimble and adaptable in such unpredictable times,