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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: 866 Stories
A group of staff and volunteers pose for a photo during the grand opening celebration of The BRICK food bank.

The BRICK Executive Director shares what kept her motivated through the expansion of one of the busiest food pantries in Northern Wisconsin

A $154,500 USDA Rural Development Community Facilities grant helped increase the square footage and modernize the Food Shelf at The BRICKWhen one of the busiest food pantries in Northern Wisconsin took on a multi-year renovation project, which involved a move to and from a… [Read More]
Wisconsin
Community Facilities
Brian Mininger with the Bear Creek sign

The Brother- (and Sister-) hood of the Traveling Loan, Chapter Three: Bear Creek Outdoor Living

Waynesboro’s proximity to Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Appalachian Trail makes it a perfect place for hiking, biking, paddling and fly fishing in the great outdoors. It’s also a terrific location for adventures in your own backyard with a little help from Brian… [Read More]
Virginia
Business
Six women sit around a table drinking coffee and tea

As the Door County Granary interpretive museum prepares to open for the 2025 season, the women who began the project are as dedicated as ever

A $3.3 million USDA Rural Development Community Facilities grant helped restore historical giant that helped shape Wisconsin’s global agricultural significance  It has taken dozens of people to complete the first phases of the project to restore the 75-foot-tall former… [Read More]
Wisconsin
Community Facilities
Stephanie Duffy, Jennifer Ledford, and George Reed in the Initial Inspiration work area to Stephanie Duffy and George Reed

The Brother- (and Sister-) hood of the Traveling Loan, The Next Chapter: Initial Inspiration

Jennifer Ledford has quite literally put her personal stamp on the business she operates in downtown Waynesboro. After starting small with a home embroidery machine, she now works in a variety of mediums to make customers’ ideas come to life.“It was hard to find cute clothes for… [Read More]
Virginia
Business
Three men standing next to a police equipped sport utility vehicle.

Public Safety Gets Boost in Popular Ohio Vacation Destination

Rural communities and small towns could teach master classes in creative problem solving for operating on tight budgets and stretching scarce resources.   Patrolman Jason Keeler sits in the new K-9 equipped sport utility vehicle… [Read More]
Ohio
Community FacilitiesFirst Responders
SFH Recipient Candace, Habitat, and USDA staff

Will County Resident Achieves Homeownership Dream through USDA Rural Development Single Family Housing Program, Habitat for Humanity, and Illinois Housing Department Authority Collab

CHAMPAIGN, IL, March 5th, 2025 - Homeownership has become an increasingly difficult achievement for many Americans. Will County resident, Candace, was recently able to achieve her dream on Feb 27th, 2025, thanks to a collaboration between four organizations: USDA Rural… [Read More]
Illinois
Housing
picture of presenter looking off frame towards a projector screen. behind the presenter is a banner that says startup nv.

How to Save the World (And Other Startups)

“This is my favorite part,” said StartUpNV Director of Marketing Rukshana Hussain. Outside, the sounds of traffic dominate the sweltering Vegas heat, but inside the Nuwu Art Community Center there’s a silence as rural and Tribal entrepreneurs hang on to Hussain’s every word… [Read More]
Nevada
BusinessTribal
Waynesboro downtown street view featuring business signs

The Brother- (and Sister-) hood of the Traveling Loan: The Opening Chapter

Small towns are known for being close-knit communities where neighbors help neighbors, but we don’t often hear about federal programs that offer seed money to grow multiple businesses and boost local economic development in the process.Rural Business Development Grants (RBDG) do… [Read More]
Virginia
Business
Morris YMCA

YMCA Receives a $3.5 Million USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Grant, Making Health and Medicinal Rehabilitation Services More Accessible in Rural Communities

Champaign, IL, Feb 10th, 2025 - YMCAs are widely known for benefitting communities by offering low-cost wellness centers, kids’ programs, community engagement, and more. Rural areas especially suffer from a lack of these services. … [Read More]
Illinois
Community Facilities
A woman stands in front of an internet service cart, with wires and cables leading to and from ports and the ceiling.

Utah-based Internet Provider Reaches Small Colorado Town

When Dealila Huskey, Technology Coordinator for the Dolores County School District, heard high-speed fiber internet was coming to her area in Dove Creek, Colorado, she was skeptical. She’d heard promises of that sort before, and it had become almost a pattern to witness… [Read More]
Colorado, Utah
Broadband

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