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Distance Learning Grant Provides Window to the World for Rural Students
Halfway between Park Falls and Ashland is the rural community of Mellen, population 698. Nestled between the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and nearby Copper Falls State Park, this small community is humming with activity on an early Monday morning in March.
Students are… [Read More]
Enhancing Rural Medicine
To meet the challenges of a post-pandemic period and to keep pace with the needs of a diverse community, St. Mark's Medical Center (SMMC) looked to USDA's Emergency Rural Health Care Grant program for help.
SMMC contributed $4.8 million in uncompensated care and free services… [Read More]
Rural Energy for America Program Helping with Input Costs for Agricultural Producers
Brad and Amy Thompson upgraded their grain drying operations with help from the Rural Energy for America Program. Thompson Family Farm is a family-owned farming operation that harvests and dries grain at its facility in Donalsonville,
Seminole County, GA. This project will save… [Read More]
State Director Awarded Friend of the Haliwa-Saponi People
For his unwavering commitment to the advancement and prosperity of Native American communities in North Carolina , USDA Rural Development North Carolina State Director Reginald Speight was bestowed with the esteemed "Friend of the Haliwa-Saponi People" award at a heartfelt… [Read More]
“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… [Read More]
Health Care Closer to Home – It’s Good for the Heart
In Arizona, Benson Hospital’s telehealth services cut a 100-mile round trip to metropolitan Tucson, allowing residents to focus on what matters most – their health.
Before the pandemic, telehealth was nearly nonexistent in Graham and Cochise County, forcing rural Arizonans in… [Read More]
The Opportunity to Do More: USDA Pass-Through Loan Enables Manufacturing Company Expansion
In Nevada, Iowa, a family-owned and operated business is expanding thanks in part to a $2 million loan from USDA.
Mid-States Material Handling and Fabrication is a manufacturer of agricultural material handling equipment, structural steel towers, catwalks, and other steel… [Read More]
USDA’s Housing Preservation Grant and Rebuilding Together Houston’s Network of Partners Improve Safety and Resiliency of Crosby Homeowner
For more than 33 years, Ms. Jacqueline Smith has lived in her Crosby home that was built in 1960. As a single mother, she raised three children on her own when her husband left her many years ago. Ms. Smith describes herself as a good listener and an upbeat ‘people person’ who… [Read More]
USDA Grants Help Farmer Care for Apple Orchards, Maintain Blue Corn Lineages
After traveling down a long, narrow dirt road in Dixon, New Mexico, I eventually came to the production area for La Mesa Farms. There, more than 5,000 beautiful ears of blue corn were hung up to dry for the winter. They would soon be taken down, and the corn removed from the cob… [Read More]
Rural health care grant helps God’s Pantry Food Bank expand food delivery program
Food insecurity in rural Kentucky, depending on who you ask, is somewhere around 15 percent. That means about one out of every six households does not have access to affordable nutritious food, putting them at increased risk for conditions like obesity, diabetes, heart disease,… [Read More]