U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

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…
Read More

Find Stories

Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.

Search Results: 183 Stories
On May 2, 2024, USDA Rural Development was able to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new mental health service center in Uniontown, Pa. The facility, funded through our essential community facilities program, gives locals in need of care a place to meet with qualified professionals from the Fayette County Mental Health Association.

Where to Start: Accessing Mental Health Resources in Rural Pennsylvania

Bob Morgan, State Director of USDA Rural DevelopmentIt starts with caring.On May 2, 2024, I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new mental health service center in Uniontown, Pa. The facility, funded through our essential community… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Community FacilitiesMental Health
On April 23, 2024, more than 70 residents, public officials, and health care professionals gathered at Punxsutawney Area Hospital to break ground on a $23 million renovation project.

USDA Helps Improve Health Care Facility in Punxsutawney

On April 23, 2024, more than 70 residents, public officials, and health care professionals gathered at Punxsutawney Area Hospital to break ground on a $23 million renovation project. The renovations funded through a USDA Community… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Community Facilities
Healthcare1

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]
Texas
Community FacilitiesGrants
Comanche County

USDA Community Facilities Guaranteed Loan is Transforming Rural Healthcare

In the rolling hills of Comanche County, Legacy Estate Long Term Care stands as a beacon of hope and innovation in rural healthcare. A not-for-profit care center owned by Comanche County Consolidated Hospital District (CCCHD), and led by CEO Nikki Stark and Misty Hill, the… [Read More]
Texas
Community FacilitiesInfrastructure
Saint Peter Fire Hall Aerial

City of Saint Peter Celebrates Success of New Fire Station

The city of Saint Peter had planned to replace its fire hall for nearly ten years. Since the mid-1950s, the town housed its fire department in an old maintenance shop, but the small, repurposed space was no longer adequate.  As the city grew, the fire department was faced… [Read More]
Minnesota
Community Facilities
7 people standing in front of water tank

USDA Rural Development Helps Community Access Clean Water For The First Time After Five Months

You would be forgiven for thinking that October 17th was just another ordinary day for the fifteen households of the Mt. Rose Bowl subdivision, hidden by dense forest between a ski resort and a sleepaway camp in Northern Nevada. But Sally Sue Broili vividly remembers letting out… [Read More]
Nevada
Community FacilitiesWater
Fairbanks Museum interactive sensory installments

Mass Timber Takes Off at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium

Since Naturalist Franklin Fairbanks opened the doors of the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1891, it has been a popular place of learning and wonder for thousands of visitors. In 1961, the Museum built the state’s first public planetarium, and in 2018 began a… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
Community Facilities
Logo for Appletree Rensselaer, Indiana

Appletree Rensselaer: Bringing Smiles to Little Faces in Indiana

USDA Rural Development awarded a Community Facilities Grant worth $133,200 to a childcare center in Rensselaer, Indiana. This grant will fund Appletree Rensselaer, a licensed childcare center providing services to 72 children between six weeks and five years old. The center will… [Read More]
Indiana
Community FacilitiesEducation
Jonesborough K-8 Elementary School Ribbon Cutting

Happy Holidays Jonesborough!

On Friday, December 15, 2023; we made Christmas wishes come true for more than 1,100 K-8 students, faculty, and staff at Jonesborough K-8 Elementary School. The elementary school hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for a brand new 147,000 square foot K-8 school. The Town of… [Read More]
Tennessee
Community Facilities
Rosenwald School

Transforming St. George Rosenwald School: A Tale of Community Grant Impact

Introduction In the heart of rural Dorchester County, South Carolina, nestled a short distance from the hustle and bustle of Charleston, stands the historic St. George Rosenwald School. Once a beacon of education for African American students during the segregation era, this… [Read More]
South Carolina
Community Facilities

Additional Success Stories