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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: 869 Stories
Montana MFH Specialist Natalie Plummer and Sage Apartment owners Robbie Carpenter (C) and Vince Winterhalter (R).

Two Generations Partnering with USDA on Affordable Housing in Rural Montana Town

The Sage Apartments is a 12-unit multi-family housing complex that provides quality, safe, and affordable housing for eligible seniors and persons with disabilities in a rural Harlowton, Montana. “With the ongoing housing crisis, there are limited options in rural communities,… [Read More]
Montana
Housing
Marias Health Care Facility

New Clinic Provides Increased Access to Health Care in Rural Montana

What happens to a vacant big-box retail space in a rural community with leaders who have a vision and passion for service? In the case of Shelby, Montana, rural residents here and beyond will benefit with increased access to quality, affordable health care at a new, state-of-the… [Read More]
Montana
Health Care
Barry and Max McFarland

Mac's Creek: Building a Legacy in Lexington

Mac’s Creek Winery and Brewery in Lexington, Nebraska is a family business in more ways than one. The business has grown from the seed of an idea conjured up by Max and Theresa McFarland over twenty years ago to a thriving business, brewery, winery, event space, and source of… [Read More]
Nebraska
BusinessSmall Business
Butte Housing Groundbreaking

Building a Place to Call Home in Rural Montana

As sounds of city traffic fill the air, an obscure vacant lot at a busy intersection in uptown Butte is showing signs of life. Newly excavated foundation preparations dot the landscape. Water and sewer pipes emerge from the ground, signaling the coming of a neighborhood where… [Read More]
Montana
Homeownership
Lauren Herby and Will Shepherd selling their syrup at a local festival.

Grant Funding and Farmers Market Sales Support the Sweet Success of Tonoloway Farm 

The “sugar makers” of Virginia’s Highland County have been perfecting their art for hundreds of years with some families continuing to produce maple syrup into the sixth and seventh generations. Lauren and Christoph Herby of Tonoloway Farm are putting their own stamp on… [Read More]
Virginia
Value Added
Rural Development Staff Stand with the Homeowner

Never Ones to Ask for Help, Couple Gets Needed Home Repairs through USDA Rural Development

Edmund and Mildred “Lorrie” Smith, at 80 years old found they urgently needed modifications to their bathroom as Edmund’s health worsened. The couple, married for 62 years and the proud parents of three children, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren found… [Read More]
New Jersey
Home RepairHomeownership Month 2023
Francis & Nicole Badibanga in front of their new home with their four children

Hope Restored Through Hard Work and Perseverance

In Salem, Utah, the reality of homeownership is finally a dream come true for Francis Badibanga and his family of six. Francis achieved this dream by working with a local self-help program, putting in hundreds of hours of sweat equity to bring down the price of his new home, and… [Read More]
Utah
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023Housing
Bobbie Grubb's community becomes cooperative-owned with the help of NCF.

Rural Wisconsin Community Embraces Cooperative Homeowner Model

In 2016, Bobbie Grubb’s manufactured housing community in Wisconsin converted to a cooperative-owned model, a move that would afford residents the power to control what happens in their community for the first time. Manufactured communities, or mobile home communities, provide… [Read More]
Wisconsin
CooperativesHomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023
A woman stands outside her home in Nevada.

Persistence Pays Off for New Nevada Homeowner

As too many Americans experience, a huge rent increase caused Un Lee to be displaced from her apartment. She found herself homeless, living in whatever hotel she could afford. Un realized it would be easier to buy a home then continue to sink money into trying to find a rental.… [Read More]
Nevada
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023Housing
Bob and Mary Ann Volk outside their remodeled home in Herreid, SD.

Herreid Homes Have New Hope After Rehab

Bob and Mary Ann have lived in the same home for over 55 years. The couple raised their six children here and they all attended the same school in Herreid. But over the years the home has needed updates and eventually those updates were too difficult for Bob and Mary Ann to take… [Read More]
South Dakota
Home RepairHomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023Housing

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