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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: 888 Stories
Marie’s Café in McGill, Nevada

Expansion in Microlending Aids Startups, Extends Capital to Rural Markets

Rural Nevada businesses needed capital, but banks were unwilling to make small- or medium-sized loans.  In particular, loans were not being offered to Nevada’s emerging business communities. How Rural Development Helped: In September 2010, USDA Rural Development … [Read More]
Nevada
RMAP
Family Business Grows into Success

Family Business Grows into Success

Little did PJ Jonas know when she began making goat milk soap in 2006 that her project would develop into a career that she, husband Jim, and their eight children would soon share.Because of her desire to not use chemicals on the children’s skin, PJ wanted a natural soap that… [Read More]
Indiana
Value Added
Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Town of Ashland City Mayor Richard Johnson was concerned about the sagging agricultural economy and lack of facilities for their Farmers Market. Reaching out last year to state and federal partners the Town of Ashland City received a USDA Rural Development Rural Business… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic Foods
Charles McGaa

Finally a Homeowner

“As a kid, I moved around a lot and never really had a home to call my own,” said Charles McGaa, new homeowner. Through a USDA Rural Development 502 Direct Loan, careful planning and support from Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing, McGaa’s dream of owning his home own… [Read More]
South Dakota
Housing
usda rural development, rural development mississippi, homeownership, single family housing direct loan program

First-Time Home Owner at the Age of 81

At the age of 81, Ms. Gertrude Overstreet and her son Willie Overstreet are the proud owners of a brand new home. Mrs. Overstreet rented her last home for more than 30 years. The condition of the house was inadequate to say the least, and particularly inadequate for Mrs.… [Read More]
Mississippi
Housing
Quest Montessori School

Funding to Help the Expansion of Rural School

Providing necessary and quality education in rural communities is important to create ladders of opportunity for the future generations. Following up on this mission, in 2009 USDA Rural Development gave the Quest Montessori School a $2.4 million Community Facilities loan to… [Read More]
Rhode Island
Community FacilitiesEducation
USDA funds Greenhouse Cape Cod

Funds Help Build Greenhouse for Nauset Regional Middle School

The Nauset Regional Middle School in Cape Cod, Massachusetts currently has a three-year-old seasonal greenhouse that complements an indoor wet lab where fish and plants are grown. Currently, students are only able to use the greenhouse for a small part of the school year as the… [Read More]
Massachusetts
Community FacilitiesEducation
Geothermal Fueled Residence Hall

Geothermal Fueled Residence Hall

Outline Of Need: West Chester University is a public university with 15,415 students and 800 academic employees in West Chester, Pennsylvania (Chester County). Demand for student housing is very high, the existing university housing is near full capacity, and much of it is old… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Community Facilities
USDA

Grant for Second Phase of Bio-Energy Research

Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT), a non-profit economic development organization, was awarded a Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) to work on Phase II of a project that will determine the feasibility of implementing an alternative fuels facility in… [Read More]
Connecticut
Economic Development
Gonzales DLT

Grant Provides Rural Hospital With Cutting Edge Technology

A $300,000 Distance and Learning  Telemedicine Grant from USDA Rural Development has provided a rural Gonzales hospital with cutting edge radiology technology not usually available in rural Texas hospitals. With the equipment upgrade, the Gonzales   Hospital… [Read More]
Texas
Distance Learning

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