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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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Find Stories

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

Search Results: 893 Stories
Family front porch of new home

From Wheels to Walls - Attaining the Dream of Homeownership

For many, owning your own home is the America Dream.  But the road to homeownership can be difficult to maneuver and include roadblocks and detours. Alexandria S., a widowed mother of four, is all too familiar with those bumps in the road and worked in partnership with the… [Read More]
Colorado
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022Housing
Picture of McKenzie County Hospital

Partners in Mental Health for Rural North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. -- According to the North Dakota Behavioral Health Division, nearly 20% of adults in North Dakota suffer from challenges associated with mental illnesses. The importance of prioritizing mental health and working to reduce the stigma associated with seeking… [Read More]
North Dakota
Community FacilitiesHealth Care
Gosper County Rural Fire District's New Grass Fire Truck

Gosper County Rural Fire District Gets New Grass Fire Truck: A Special Addition to the Team

Living in a rural community has its advantages; peace and quiet, a more reasonable cost of living, and friendly neighbors who pull for each other in times of need. Rural America seems to have community values that sometimes can feel lost in other places, and no one embodies… [Read More]
Nebraska
Community FacilitiesDisasterFirst RespondersGrants
Teachers from several schools in Johnston County, NC, participate in training utilizing Distance Learning equipment purchased through USDA Rural Development.

Rural Development Assisting College Bound with Distance Learning

Once Upon a Time, a student had to graduate high school before attending college. Now with the assistance of a $499 thousand Distance Learning Telemedicine Grant from USDA Rural Development students in Johnston County, North Carolina, may be well on their way to completing an… [Read More]
North Carolina
Distance LearningHealth Care
Blew Family with Rural Development State Director Jane Asselta and Congressman Malinowski

Family Farm Learns About Sustainable Options through North Jersey RC&D and Rural Development Partnership

The Blew family owns a sustainable farm in Hunterdon County. Oak Grove Plantation is considered a “Revolutionary” farm; all their products are free of GMO, preservatives, additives, and fillers. While they have a great start of going green, they turned to North Jersey RC &D… [Read More]
New Jersey
Energy
Jaimee Souksan and her two kids were able to realize the American dream of home ownership with the help of a USDA Rural Development loan in Nebraska.

Souksan Family Realizes the American Dream in Nebraska

Homeownership, for many, it’s the ultimate American dream. However, it can be difficult to achieve in a challenging economy, especially for those of limited means, but it is not impossible. In 2020, Jaimee Souksan made the dream come true for her family of three when she… [Read More]
Nebraska
HomeownershipHousing
football2

St. Helena College and Career Academy: Touchdown Loan

St. Helena College and Career Academy in rural Greensburg, Louisiana is home to the Mighty Hawks. In the small parish of 11,000, football is one of the main ways that the community comes together, and St. Helena is their only public high school. But, St. Helena's previous… [Read More]
Louisiana
Community FacilitiesEducationRecreation
Native American statue on IAIA Campus

Advancing Artistic Expression

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is located just a few miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Located on 140 acres in Santa Fe it is arguably one of the best locations in the state for an art school. To put it simply the place is inspiring. The campus is in a… [Read More]
New Mexico
Community FacilitiesEducationTribal
Peace, Love, and Harmony

Peace, Love, and Harmony

A continuous partnership between USDA Rural Development and Mountain T.O.P. has helped more than 300 families in the Cumberland Plateau with much needed home repairs. Mountain T.O.P. has received a total of 12 Housing Preservation Grants  to help qualified very-low and low… [Read More]
Tennessee
Home Repair
Staff from Back Yard Farms hold packages of apple chips that were just produced and ready for sale using the freeze-drying method.

What a great idea, how come nobody thought of this before?

The workers at Backyard Farms in Vado, New Mexico have barely begun another day of freeze-drying produce when another truck carrying hundreds of pounds of apples arrives to deliver its load. Since Backyard Farms began freeze drying food it’s become a beehive of activity.… [Read More]
New Mexico
Value Added

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