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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
Telemedicine

Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Helps Schools, Students and Parents

The School-Based TeleHealth (SBTH) program is a collaboration between Richland County School District One (RCSD 1) and Prisma Health-Midlands to provide education and health care services in the Lower Richland Community.  This project serves some of the neediest families in… [Read More]
South Carolina
Distance LearningHealth Care
Presbyterian College Dorm

Presbyterian College to Expand by Constructing a 144-Bed Student Dormitory

Presbyterian College recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 7, 2019 to celebrate the completion of a 144-bed student dormitory.  The event included tours of the dormitory which, by the way, is not your typical dorm room.  The complex features prime… [Read More]
South Carolina
Community Facilities
Dimock Dairy photo

New Coolers and LED Lighting Installed in Rural South Dakota Cheese Factory

Dimock Cheese is the oldest artisan cheese plant in South Dakota. They have been making quality cheese since 1931.  The factory, located 15 minutes south of Mitchell on Highway 37, is in the breadbasket of the heartland. The retail store is established in Dimock, with a… [Read More]
South Dakota
REAP
10kW Solar Array Powers Small Business

10kW Solar Array Powers Small Business

As a large producer of grapes and a connoisseur of wine, Bill Sanderson had a dream to own a Winery that offered a Tasting Facility and Event Hall. Construction costs and future operating expenses were a major obstacle for business owners, Bill and Marjie Sanderson. Discussing… [Read More]
Tennessee
REAP
Stuart Hometown Foods Stuart, Iowa

40-Year Dedication to Small-Town Grocery Stores

While growing or producing all of their own fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat is an option for some rural Iowa families, nearly every household today makes regular trips to grocery store. But fewer local grocery stores across the state mean more rural Iowans now live in food-… [Read More]
Iowa
REAP
Henry Smith, wearing his World War II uniform coat because he had just had pictures taken in it, plays the lawn game Cornhole at Milnwood Village Apartments in Farmville.

A Hero in Farmville

On January 14 this year Henry Smith stepped off of a plane and onto Belgian soil for the first time in more than 70 years. Right away the setting was familiar to him. “It’s going to snow,” he said to his family as the chill in the air and low-hanging clouds echoed conditions he… [Read More]
Virginia
HousingMulti-Family
family happy to be home

A Mother and Three Children Find Stability in Their Home

After the Peters family moved from Rapid City, SD to Chadron, NE for a job opportunity, Alyssa decided that she needed a home of her own to provide some stability for her children Emma, 11, Matthew, 9, and Carter, 6, by giving them their own space.  Alyssa searched… [Read More]
Nebraska
Homeownership
A New Roof Over Their Heads, Fresh Cut Grass Under Their Feet

A New Roof Over Their Heads, Fresh Cut Grass Under Their Feet

For Leon and Priscille Boucher of Berlin, New Hampshire, a new roof meant they could use their pots and pans for cooking rather than collecting the water dripping from the ceiling. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development funded roof rehabilitation, but… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
Home Repair
Jill Burcham, pastor at Push Ministries in Galax, applied for and received a USDA Rural Development direct home loan in 2015. She now helps her Push Ministries clients navigate the same process to become homeowners themselves.

A P.U.S.H. for Homeownership in Galax

Jill Burcham has spent the last nine years building P.U.S.H. Ministries, an organization in Galax that today helps nearly 800 people per month put food on tables, learn life skills, transition from prison and climb out of addiction. This year, in an attempt to further help her… [Read More]
Virginia
HomeownershipHousing
Dr. Keelan Lewis and patient

A Rural Partnership for the Future

For rural communities, it’s all about the ongoing challenge of creating and maintaining jobs.  In Seymour, Texas, the city’s Community Development Corporation decided to utilize Rural Development’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant program to stimulate the City’s business… [Read More]
Texas
RBEG

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