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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 the 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: 888 Stories
Castleton Library in Castleton, Vermont

Castleton Library Goes Vertical to Serve the Entire Community

The Castleton Free Library (CFL) in Castleton, Vermont is a beloved historic institution that serves its community far beyond the conventional role of book repository. By collaborating with other libraries throughout the region, the staff takes a proactive approach to expanding… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
Community Facilities
State Director Waring speaks at the Winooski Downtown Revitalization ground breaking ceremony

Winooski Breaks Ground on Downtown Revitalization Project

The City of Winooski has undertaken a whole-street reconstruction project thanks to more than $20 million from USDA Rural Development Community Programs. Focusing on roughly 4,000 feet of the city's corridor from Interstate I-89 into downtown, the reconstruction will include… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
Community Facilities
The Union Valley Apartments participates in two U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Rural Development RD Multifamily Housing programs that assists the property owners and residents, in Finleyville, PA, on Sept. 2, 2021.

Emergency Rental Assistance Proves Vital to Pennsylvania Tenants

Residents of Multi-Family Housing Complex Thankful For AidFor Carole Fosbaugh, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Multi-Family Housing program has allowed her to age in place in rural Pennsylvania.“I would not have been able to afford to live here and couldn’t have… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
HomeownershipHousing
goats at gorgeous goat creamery.

Gorgeous Goats: Turning Grazing into Gold

Hidden in the middle of a lush forest and accessible by only a single, winding drive is Stewgler Farm & Forest, home to the whimsically named Gorgeous Goat Creamery, where more than 70 gregarious Alpine dairy goats own the spotlight thanks to the ingenuity and dedication of… [Read More]
New Jersey
Local FoodsValue Added
Four people stand in front of a café counter

Healthy Food Financing Initiative Helps Spread the Power and Love of Local Food in New Mexico

When you’re planning to spend a day at a museum, a couple logistical questions might come to mind: What am I going to eat? Is the food going to be too expensive and not good?Luckily for those who visit Albuquerque’s Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum, local, healthy… [Read More]
New Mexico
GrantsLocal Foods
Ohio RD team presents award certificate to Western Water board.

Treatment Plant Expansion to Make Potable Water Even Safer for SW Ohio Residents

Inside Western Water Company's water treatment plant in Morrow, Ohio. Western Water will use its USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal loan to expand its facility. USDA Photo.  Springtime in rural Ohio is marked by sunny… [Read More]
Ohio
Water
Jared Stober with an outstretched hand holding a small bottle with grains inside.

From Farm to Tap

BISMARCK, N.D. – You’ve likely heard the phrases “Farm to Table” and “Farm to School,” but how about “Farm to Tap?” Though maybe not as common or mainstream, “farm to tap” is an appropriate way to summarize the path that grain, grown and harvested on family farms in North… [Read More]
North Dakota
BusinessInfrastructure
Sally Cowal lifts a glass with assistant winemaker Joshua Riesner

Musings of a Well Traveled Virginia Winemaker

How did a globe-trotting former diplomat and one of Washington’s top international lawyers end up running an award-winning winery along the North Fork of the Shenandoah River? The answer is pretty simple really. It was a place to put down roots.The historic Woodstock, Va.,… [Read More]
Virginia
EntrepreneurValue Added
Molly and Jesse of Piper Mountain Christmas Trees stand in front of a vintage blue pickup truck with their two children. In the background there is a red barn and a distant hill.

Beginning Farmers Use REAP Grant to Make Their Christmas Tree Farm Greener

Molly Livingston and Jesse Jimerson were living in Northern Nevada while looking for an opportunity to get into farming. When they heard that Piper Mountain Christmas Tree Farm in Newburgh, Maine was for sale, they were interested.The farm had been in business since 1978 and… [Read More]
Maine
BusinessEnergyGrantsMade in Rural AmericaREAPRenewable EnergySmall Business

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