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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: 4 Stories
A man and a woman are pictured seated at a table, talking and taking notes. Other people work at the same table and other tables in the background. There is abstract artwork on the walls in the background.

Building Community Strength Ten Rural Towns at a Time: GrowSmart Maine Brings Local Leaders to the Table

Rural communities across Maine may share many of the same goals, but collaboration can be difficult when they are separated by great distance and challenging roads. What’s more, small towns often have lean staffs, making it especially hard to make time for strategic planning. (… [Read More]
Maine
Economic DevelopmentRCDI
The Climate Fellow described in the story is pictured at an outdoor table interacting with a community member who is reading a pamphlet she shows him. There is a blue building, a Mount Desert Island School bus, and trees in the background. The event pictured is in a parking lot, with balloons in the near background.

Impact Beyond Measure: Maine Nonprofit Builds Climate Resilience and the Leaders of Tomorrow with RCDI Grant from USDA

Where can residents of small coastal and island communities in Maine turn for help with critical, labor-intensive projects? Residents of the Mount Desert Island town of Tremont recently worked with Island Institute Fellow… [Read More]
Maine
Clean EnergyGrantsRCDIRenewable Energy
Molly and Everett pose with dog Cricket in front of their barn with the solar panels on the roof.

REAP Helps Nettie Fox Farm Step Away from Fossil Fuels

Nestled in the gently rolling hills of Newburgh, Maine, Nettie Fox Farm produces certified organic vegetables. Molly Crouse founded the farm in 2009. In 2013 her partner, Everett Ottinger, joined her in operating the 33-acre spread. They began steadily increasing the… [Read More]
Maine
Clean EnergyElectricFood SupplyKnow Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceRCDIREAPRenewable EnergySolar Energy
REDI

Providing Assistance to Students with Developmental Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing the assistance through an initiative called Rural Economic Development Innovation, REDI. USDA’s Innovation Center created REDI to support recommendations identified in the report to the president from the Interagency Task Force on… [Read More]
Florida and Virgin Islands
RCDI

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