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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
Loves Her Roses

Smell the Roses!

Harriett is an 87 year old single female in Scottsbluff, NE, living on a limited, fixed income.  Her home is an 808 sq. ft. home built in 1935.  This home has been in the family for many years.   Harriet had been having trouble with her sewer line for quite… [Read More]
Nebraska
Home Repair
Softcom's BIP Project

Softcom’s Digital Footprint Impacting North-Central California

Softcom Internet Communications, Inc. (Softcom) is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) based in Galt, California serving rural portions of North-Central California. Due to topographical challenges of the terrain, Softcom needed assistance expanding its existing network to… [Read More]
California
Broadband

Solar Energy Powers Year-Round Greens Production

Baby Greens, a farm located in Kingston, Rhode Island, is putting a convenient spin on the term “farm to table.” The chemical-free organic farm produces a mixture of salad greens that owner Jeffery Kamminga hand delivers to local homes and businesses year round. In August of… [Read More]
Rhode Island
REAPSolar Energy
solar panels in Olympia

Solar Power Reduces Vender Energy Costs at Olympia Farmers Market

The Farmers Market in Washington State’s Capital City of Olympia attracts some 500,000 visitors during its nine-month run and generates about $5 million in sales. As the City of Olympia’s liaison to the Farmers Market, the Parks, Arts and Recreation Department was approached by… [Read More]
Washington
Renewable EnergySolar Energy
Scott and Rebecca Demaree, owners of Gardiner Market and Orion Thornton, owner of Onsite Energy

Solar Savings for Gardiner Grocery Store

Millions of visitors each year tour Yellowstone National Park. The North entrance to the park is the only entrance that is open year-round and is home to the small town of Gardiner, Montana. The local grocery store, Gardiner Market, offers traditional items, plus gluten-free,… [Read More]
Montana
REAP

Somerset County Farm Saving Energy

With energy rates on the rise, farms everywhere are struggling to make ends-meet. Pennwood Farms in Berlin, a borough located approximately 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh in Somerset County, is one of many dairy farms looking to curb the cost of energy by  producing… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
EnergyRenewable Energy
Badlands/Bad River Region

South Dakota Badlands/Bad River Regional Plan Receives National Designation

The Stronger Economies Together (SET) Badlands/Bad River Region’s long range economic development plan has passed a High Quality Plan (HQP) review by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and is only the 4th plan to receive the HQP designation nationally.  … [Read More]
South Dakota
Economic DevelopmentStronger Economies Together
Image of kitchen incubator in Cache Valley

Tech College Supports Kitchen Incubator to Jump-Start Business

Cache Valley, Utah, has a number of small “agribusinesses” that have unique products but no commercial kitchen to prepare them in. Many businesses rent spaces in restaurants but the accompanying fees are burdensome. In order to prepare products according to local and federal… [Read More]
Utah
Business
Molalla Telephone

Telecom Company Helps Rural Businesses Compete in Global Marketplace

Many rural communities lack the necessary infrastructure to provide broadband services, creating myriad challenges for local residents, businesses, schools, and other essential community services. In contrast, residents of Molalla and Mulino, Oregon, are gaining access to… [Read More]
Oregon
Broadband

Texas Rural Development Loves Repeat Customers

In September 2013, Ms. Anne Hall, 71 years of age, applied for a USDA Rural Development Section 504 loan and grant to install a handicap ramp to her home in Farmersville, Collin County, Texas. The grant was approved and construction commenced. A typical grant, a typical USDA RD… [Read More]
Texas
Home RepairHousing

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