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Success Stories

A mother and three daughters pose around a dining room table. There are lace curtains and blue wall in the background and some dishes on the table in the foreground.

“This is Home” – A Family Finds Their Forever Home in Calais, Maine

One of the first rooms Heather Gagne and her daughters began redecorating in their new home is the dining room, shown in the top photo. They have been busy repainting and making other updates. Raising a family in coastal Machias, Maine may sound lovely, but for Heather Gagne recent years proved stressful. There were few housing options in their Downeast community, and Heather was glad to find a rental home to…
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Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.

Search Results: 827 Stories
USDA Rural Development and Boone County Community Organization Staff standing in front of a food truck.

Rural Partners Network Helps Deliver More Than Just Results in Boone County

It was fall of 2023 and Keith Stephens was attending the Greater Kanawha Valley Boone County Community Luncheon to speak about the Boone County Community Organization (BCCO), where he serves as President of the Board of Directors. It was a presentation he’d made numerous times… [Read More]
West Virginia
Rural Partners Network
During a recent visit to the Little Riddle Market, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dr. Basil Gooden announced a new round of funding under the HFFI program that runs through October 14, 2024. “I am a living testament to growing up in stores like this,” said Gooden who grew up in rural Virginia. “This is not just a market; it is a place where the community comes together and shares their lives.”

Rural Development Assists Vital Family Market in Rural North Carolina

SHILOH, North Carolina--In the farthest northeast corner of North Carolina sits a store that serves as a lifeline for the town of Shiloh.That store is the Little Riddle Market. It is more than just a town grocer; it is a vital part of the community it works to serve on a daily… [Read More]
North Carolina
Infrastructure
Tonya S outside her home in Georgia

In Rural Georgia, Community and Commitment Lead to Homeownership Success

Tonya S. is a hardworking mother of two who lives in Dublin, Georgia. A longtime employee of a local restaurant, Tonya has found a way to balance her work life with her family life over the years. So, when a friend from church told her about USDA Rural Development’s Single… [Read More]
Georgia
Homeownership
A woman stands before a cream colored house set into a hillside, with a brick patio and white patio furniture arranged. There is a green lawn in the foreground and trees in the background in bright sunshine.

Maine Retiree Turns to Rural Development for Help Recovering from Flash Flood

After a dozen years in her Franklin County home, lifelong Mainer Lucille thought she knew what to expect during bad weather. Therefore, when torrential rains struck Western Maine on June 29, 2023, she wasn’t particularly alarmed at first. Her home is located partway up a hill… [Read More]
Maine
DisasterHome Repair
photo of Jeff Davis Hospital

Jeff Davis Hospital: Overcoming Challenges and Securing a Sustainable Future

In 2014, Jeff Davis Hospital in Hazelhurst, Georgia, faced the grim prospect of closure. The hospital, a vital resource for the local community, was outdated, very small, and not equipped to serve the community. Originally built in 1962, Jeff Davis Hospital was last renovated in… [Read More]
Georgia
Community Facilities
new cinderblock building

Village of Honor system upgrades help ensure effective wastewater treatment, and a healthy watershed, for generations to come

Before the Village of Honor improved its wastewater treatment system in 2022, the team that runs it dealt with frequent maintenance issues.The system, which includes a series of treatment lagoons and other structures and components that lie at the northeastern edge of the… [Read More]
Michigan
Wastewater
Overhead view of L'Anse with buildings and water

Michigan’s ‘Village by the Bay’ completes extensive project to improve wastewater services, helping to keep local waters healthy for the future

People have been visiting the area surrounding the Village of L’Anse, which means “the cove” in French, to recreate, fish, camp and enjoy the water since long before the village’s founding in the 1870s.Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, L’Anse offers a unique blend of… [Read More]
Michigan
Wastewater
Man standing in front of house on wooded lot.

Keeping Housing Affordable and Safe in Rural Ohio Town

Representatives from Yellow Springs Home, Inc., and USDA Rural Development in Ohio celebrate partnership that helps provide safe, affordable housing for families in and near the Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio. USDA Photo. Since 1995,… [Read More]
Ohio
Home RepairHousing
WV Glenville State University 2024 Community Facilities Grant

USDA Helps Improve Public Safety in Glenville

The city of Glenville, West Virginia is a little safer now thanks to assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. Since 2018, Rural Development has provided a total of $72,950 in grant funding to Glenville State University (GSU) and the city… [Read More]
West Virginia
Rural Partners Network
Betsy White, Executive Director of the William King Museum of Art

Collaborating to Preserve the Art and Culture of Southwest Virginia

Many museums inspire awe and wonder, transporting visitors back to the past or giving them a glimpse of the future, but few can claim to be a paradise for those who walk through the doors. The William King experience reaches that level for many people in Southwest Virginia who… [Read More]
Virginia
Community Facilities

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