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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: 886 Stories

Organic Food Hub for South Central Texas and beyond

As we are becoming more conscious of our environment and the food we eat, more people are turning to organic foods. Organic foods have become a widely sought commodity in the past few years. There is a growing cluster of organic farmers in South Texas. Unfortunately, it seems… [Read More]
Texas
Business
Red Cloud Indian School

Our Lady of Lourdes Provides Foundational Skills and Oh So Much More

It was a special day for the students at the Our Lady of Lourdes, OLL, K- 8th grade school in Porcupine, SD as it was their last day before Thanksgiving break and many of their parents had joined them for lunch.  It was fun to see the students excited about the holidays and… [Read More]
South Dakota
EducationTribal
Maung Family

Overcoming Barriers Provides Maung Family with a New Home

Although Nyo Maung and his family have limited knowledge of the English language, they did not let that barrier prevent them from pursing the American dream of homeownership.  The Maung’s worked with a language interpreter to file paperwork and  finalize the process of… [Read More]
South Dakota
Homeownership
Palisade Fire Station

Palisade Fire Barn Renovation

The preexisting fire barn in Palisade, Nebraska, was too small to accommodate the needs of its Rural Fire District. The fire ambulance, fire trucks, grass rigs, and other equipment were all parked inside a one-door building. There was barely enough room to walk between the… [Read More]
Nebraska
Community Facilities
Park View Villa

Parkview Villa Apartments Helps to Fulfill a Basic Human Need

Nationwide, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has partnered with the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to increase food security, and reduce hunger by providing eligible low-income families access to healthy foods and nutrition education through its nutrition… [Read More]
South Dakota
HousingMulti-Family

Partnering for Resilience: Helping Rural Families Keeps Homes and Water in California

California is parched. Amidst the controversy over irrigation in the farms of the Central Valley, the regulations on lawn sprinklers in sprawling cities, and the headlines about groundwater laws, there are regular people with no water. Imagine that day, only a few months after… [Read More]
California
Water
Sharon Ridge Apartments

Partnership Helps the Construction of Multi-Family Housing Units

Sharon, Connecticut is located in the beautiful Northwest corner of the state in Litchfield County. The town currently has a population of 3,052 and continues to grow. There is a need in the community for safe, affordable rental housing to accommodate very low, to moderate… [Read More]
Connecticut
Multi-Family

Partnerships Continue to Help Rural Communities in the Garden State

The Borough of Paulsboro is an industrial town located along the Delaware River in Gloucester County.  With a population of 6,097 and limited resources, the Borough decided to replace their existing 80+ year old water storage tank based on the high cost of the necessary… [Read More]
New Jersey
Water

Patience and Faith Pay Off for First-Time Homeowners

For the past nine years, Ernest & Janette Sanchez, along with their six children, were living in a small home that they shared with their in-laws. Having to live with three other families in a four-bedroom home, their living condition were extremely overcrowded to say the… [Read More]
Hawaii and Western Pacific
Homeownership
[From left to right] Grottoes Volunteer Fire Department board members Jeff Morris, Captain CJ Chandler and Assistant Chief Chandler Hardy pictured in front of fire protection equipment purchased with the help of a $50,000 USDA Rural Development grant.

Pride in a department, pride in a community

Nostalgia filled the Grottoes Volunteer Fire Department (GVFD) training room recently as four lifetime members reminisced about how far the department has come in 94 years. The department’s history - stemming back to 1922 even before its incorporation in 1948 - shows that it’s… [Read More]
Virginia
Community FacilitiesRural Development

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