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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: 893 Stories
Thermal image of a home

Energy Efficiency Loan – Vermont Energy Investment Corporation

The Vermont legislature created an Energy Efficiency Utility named Efficiency Vermont as a full-service utility providing those services to all ratepayers.  Under this structure, utility ratepayers can reduce their energy use by investing in energy improvements for their… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
ElectricEnergyRenewable Energy
Energy Efficient Sewer Treatment Coupled with Environmental Balance

Energy Efficient Sewer Treatment Coupled with Environmental Balance

The Milton Regional Sewer Authority (MRSA) needed to improve and expand their existing sewer treatment plant. The Pennsylvania Department of  Environmental Protection (DEP) mandated that all communities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed comply with new lower standards for… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
WastewaterWater
Picture of Esterbrook Apartments

Esterbrook Apartments Facelift Nears Completion

By the time the Wyoming Housing Network, Inc. (WHN) purchased the Esterbrook Apartments in August 2010, the twenty-unit complex in Riverton, Wyoming was dire need of renovations. Even worse, the 33-year old complex was at risk of losing its rental support from USDA Rural… [Read More]
Wyoming
HousingMulti-Family
Everyday Superheroes in North Dakota

Everyday Superheroes in North Dakota

 In rural North Dakota, high speed Internet isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.  Just ask Tracey Koester. Tracey used to commute to Bismarck, ND for work. It was a 56-mile journey one-way, and she did it 5 days-a- week, for 17 years. Tracy and others have used high speed… [Read More]
North Dakota
Community Connect
rural development mississippi, women in agriculture, mississippi delta southern rural black women, clarksdale, coahoma county

Expanding a Business One Sweet Potato at a Time

The Mississippi Delta Council for Farm Workers Opportunities, Inc. received $91,138 through the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG). They are proposing to install a commercial kitchen with processing equipment to support the growth of a small emerging business – the… [Read More]
Mississippi
GrantsSmall Business
Marie’s Café in McGill, Nevada

Expansion in Microlending Aids Startups, Extends Capital to Rural Markets

Rural Nevada businesses needed capital, but banks were unwilling to make small- or medium-sized loans.  In particular, loans were not being offered to Nevada’s emerging business communities. How Rural Development Helped: In September 2010, USDA Rural Development … [Read More]
Nevada
RMAP
Family Business Grows into Success

Family Business Grows into Success

Little did PJ Jonas know when she began making goat milk soap in 2006 that her project would develop into a career that she, husband Jim, and their eight children would soon share.Because of her desire to not use chemicals on the children’s skin, PJ wanted a natural soap that… [Read More]
Indiana
Value Added
Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Town of Ashland City Mayor Richard Johnson was concerned about the sagging agricultural economy and lack of facilities for their Farmers Market. Reaching out last year to state and federal partners the Town of Ashland City received a USDA Rural Development Rural Business… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic Foods
Charles McGaa

Finally a Homeowner

“As a kid, I moved around a lot and never really had a home to call my own,” said Charles McGaa, new homeowner. Through a USDA Rural Development 502 Direct Loan, careful planning and support from Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing, McGaa’s dream of owning his home own… [Read More]
South Dakota
Housing
usda rural development, rural development mississippi, homeownership, single family housing direct loan program

First-Time Home Owner at the Age of 81

At the age of 81, Ms. Gertrude Overstreet and her son Willie Overstreet are the proud owners of a brand new home. Mrs. Overstreet rented her last home for more than 30 years. The condition of the house was inadequate to say the least, and particularly inadequate for Mrs.… [Read More]
Mississippi
Housing

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