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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
A visitor takes a closer look at produce in a cooler awaiting delivery

Small Farmers Think Big to Grow Markets for Southside Virginia Produce

Butterflies are primary pollinators for many vegetables and herbs, helping to ensure a good harvest on Virginia farms. The delicate wings that propel them from flower to flower can carry them many miles to transform the agricultural landscape.Though most closely associated with… [Read More]
Virginia
Cooperatives
Jen Young and Jessica Heesacker show off the Farm to Family Coop in Hay Springs, Nebraska

Farm to Family: A Labor of Love

In Hay Springs, Nebraska, customers stream into the Farm to Family cooperative grocery store. Kids in swimsuits looking for a snack, farmers grabbing a cold drink, and parents picking up the last items for dinner come and go from the little store on main street.This scene is the… [Read More]
Nebraska
BusinessCooperativesEnergySmall Business
Peony Cooperative in Alaska

Blooming Peonies in Alaska with the Cooperative Model

Each year in October, many cooperatives pause to celebrate National Cooperative Month.  This year, the theme “Owning our Identity” focuses on what makes a cooperative different from other businesses.  For the Alaska Peony Cooperative, the cooperative model was an… [Read More]
Alaska
Cooperatives
People cooking in the kitchen

Hope & Main Nourishes Neighbors in Warren, RI

Like most people in the service industry, Lisa Raiola of the Hope & Main (HM) food incubator in Warren, Rhode Island, had to reimagine her operation due to COVID’s devastating impacts. With a 30-year career focused on distributive justice, her first move tackled area food… [Read More]
Rhode Island
Local Foods
Katie Adkins, Plymouth Meats, LLC

Making Ends “Meat”: Woman-Owned Butchery Grows Local Foods Movement

Local butcher Katie Adkins suddenly found herself in high demand when New Englanders decided to take matters into their own hands to address a COVID-created food supply chain crisis. Residents started raising their own livestock on small family farms and were clamoring for local… [Read More]
Connecticut
Local Foods
Freund's Farm shares information on renewable energy project

Replacing a Relic to Keep a Community Market Growing Strong

Connecticut’s Farmington River has long been known for its scenic beauty and recreational opportunities but has recently gained some renown as the state’s oldest archaeological site. While artifacts uncovered on the banks near Avon offer insights into the lives of ice age… [Read More]
Connecticut
Renewable Energy
Kira and Tim, owners of Black Dog Farm, in Livingston MT

Four Chickens and a Dream Hatch into Successful Montana Poultry Farm

Named to honor a beloved family pet, an adopted black Lab-Border Collie mix, Black Dog Farm originally started with four chickens and a dream and has since grown into a successful woman-owned rural small business on a 35-acre homestead in the hills near Livingston, Montana.… [Read More]
Montana
Business
Printing press at Midstates Group in Aberdeen.

Doing more with less

If you’ve picked up a program at a major sporting event, subscribed to an agriculture magazine, or used a workbook while studying, chances are good that Midstates Group printed it right here in north central South Dakota. This business has clients that reach coast-to-coast and… [Read More]
South Dakota
BusinessGrantsREAP
Norris Family Fixer Upper

Norris Family Fixer Upper

Gary and Debra Norris are your typical retirees. They spent almost 15 years renting houses in a local single family housing development so they could enjoy the amenities available in the Crossville, Tenn. area. After renting several houses over the years, they decided it was… [Read More]
Tennessee
Home RepairHomeownershipHousing
Cow

Reimagining Manure to Create New Markets for an Abundant Resource

Nutrient management is a major concern for America’s dairy farmers, but they can’t always have a serious conversation about it with people who aren’t in the industry. In fact, one Connecticut farm has found the path to producing a new product from composted cow manure to be… [Read More]
Connecticut
Value Added

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