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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
USDA Rural Development celebrates Chugachmiut Regional Health Center groundbreaking

USDA Rural Development celebrates Chugachmiut Regional Health Center groundbreaking

USDA Rural Development leadership attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Chugachmiut Regional Health Center in Seward, Alaska, Saturday, June 3. The occasion marked the start of construction of the $20 million facility. The 15,475 square foot Tribally owned and operated… [Read More]
Alaska
Community FacilitiesGrantsHealth CareInfrastructureRural DevelopmentTribal
Cora Suzette Lee on the front porch of her new home.

Rebuilding a Family and Community Legacy in Northampton County

While Virginia’s Eastern Shore is known for its majestic sunsets, beaches and rural country living, a short drive off the main roads of Northampton County reveals a persistent poverty area dotted with aging homes that residents have little or no means to repair. Many properties… [Read More]
Virginia
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023Housing
Richard Smith stands on the porch of his new home in Elkins, West Virginia.

West Virginia Man Achieves Dream of Homeownership with Assistance From USDA

It was 2019, Richard Smith was unemployed and had just lost everything he owned in an apartment fire. To say Smith was down on his luck was an understatement but his two children provided him with the motivation to pick himself up and turn his luck around.  “It’s just me… [Read More]
West Virginia
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023Housing
Group photo of new borrowers and Piedmont Habitat for Humanity team

Packaging Purchases AND Production to Put More Virginia Families into New Homes

Who doesn’t love breaking open a fortune cookie to find the hidden message inside? The vague prophesies are more fun than fact but intriguing, nonetheless. In Farmville, Va., Piedmont Habitat for Humanity is turning that concept on its head by putting two sturdily constructed… [Read More]
Virginia
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2023Housing
Fixed Base Operations Manager Chris Botkin (left) gives Area 2 Specialist Robert Wilson a tour of the new hangar while it is under construction.

Positioning a Virginia Airport for Landing More and Bigger Clients

While on-time takeoffs and landings are big on the lists of most casual flyers, owners of private and corporate aircraft look for world-class service and hangar space when selecting an airport. The Shenandoah Valley Airport (SHD) was high on the first and beyond capacity on the… [Read More]
Virginia
Community FacilitiesEconomic DevelopmentRural Development
A tractor in a field with workers planting plants

Love Continues to Grow at Lovefood Farm

In 2015, Lovefood Farm launched their farm off one rented acre with a small Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Saturday farmers market and a neighborhood farmstand. Lovefood spent a few years at the Farley Center Farm Incubator, which allowed them to eventually purchase 30… [Read More]
Wisconsin
EntrepreneurFood SupplyKnow Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSmall BusinessSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added
A farmer looks at produce for sale at the Barreras Farm Market.

Feeding the Body, Enriching the Mind

The motto of the Barreras Family Farm and Farm Market is “Feeding the Body, Enriching the Mind.”  Mariel and Anthony Barreras, along with their eight children, bring this motto to life. Together, they run the farm and store – and do so much more. The Barreras family… [Read More]
Nebraska
Food SupplyGrantsLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSmall BusinessValue Added
Chris Wall and his family in their cherry orchard

Keeping it local works best for Utah orchard farmer

Wall Brothers Orchards has been in the fruit growing business for more than 50 years, growing apples, peaches, and cherries in Payson, Utah. The highest quality fruit is selected to sell to distributors and consumers in Orchard Brothers Farmer’s Market. Every growing season a… [Read More]
Utah
Food SupplyGrantsLocal FoodsLocal ProduceValue Added
Rock County Librarians Macey Lackoff and Kim Orr

There's More to the Story

National Library Week is April 23-29. The theme this year is “There’s More to the Story.” To the folks in north central Nebraska, where towns are small and there are many miles between homes, farms, and ranches, this theme comes to life at the Rock County Community Library. For… [Read More]
Nebraska
Community FacilitiesEducationGrantsRecreation
Michael Mitchell outside his home in Aberdeen.

Working together for homeownership

The saying ‘it takes a village’ can carry many meanings. For Aberdeen resident Michael Mitchell, it meant multiple organizations coming together to help homeowners like him find and purchase an affordable home. Through a partnership between USDA Rural Development (RD), Homes… [Read More]
South Dakota
GrantsHome RepairHomeownershipHousing

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