U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

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…
Read More

Find Stories

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

Search Results: 853 Stories
Photo: A mother with a fixed income was able to complete critical repairs to her house with help from a local nonprofit and a USDA grant.

Vital Repairs Help Mother, Daughter Remain in their Home

Maria no longer felt safe in her own home, where she lives with her daughter, Margarita, in rural Malheur County in eastern Oregon. Wind blew in through the cracks around the windows, and water leaked through the roof. But with her low monthly income, Maria could not afford… [Read More]
Oregon
Home RepairHousing
Photo: After growing up in foster care and homeless, Mendiola was finally able to purchase her first home with assistance from Rural Development.

A Journey from Generational Homelessness to Homeowner

“My journey to homeownership was not easy,” said Mendiola. It wasn’t just saving up the money, improving her credit, or finding the right lender. Mendiola had never lived in one place very long. She grew up in foster care and is a trafficking survivor. “I ended up on the streets… [Read More]
Oregon
Housing
Sherry Morgan Event Group Photo

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Reservation Member Becomes First Time Homeowner

Sherry Louise Morgan is an enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.  She has worked hard for two years to obtain her dream  of not only homeownership  but to complete this dream on her mom and dad’s leased land where she lived as a young girl.  In… [Read More]
South Dakota
HomeownershipHousing
NVhomeowner

Rural Nevada Teachers Can "Live the Dream" of Homeownership with USDA Loans

Rural teachers are heroes. Working tirelessly to educate children and youth, they should not have to worry about where they live after an invigorating day at work. Yet in many areas of rural Nevada, rental inventory is low and sometimes expensive. That's where a USDA home loan… [Read More]
Nevada
Homeownership
Photo: The nonprofit REACH helped Rosa Cortes secure a job that can accommodate her disabilities.

Creating a Path to Employment in Rural Areas for People with Disabilities

Rosa Cortes was struggling to find work in the rural town of Klamath Falls in southern Oregon. She volunteered at Good Will to build her experience, but found her disabilities made employers reluctant to offer her a job. Rosa has ankylosing spondylitis, a hereditary form of… [Read More]
Oregon
Business
Photo of downtown Hood River, Oregon, in the Columbia Gorge

Fueling Wage Growth, Business Expansion in the Columbia Gorge

Rural businesses on both sides of the Columbia River—from a brewery to an assisted living facility, from a Thai restaurant to a tribal fish market—are improving the local economy by hiring more employees and providing higher wages. These myriad small businesses have one thing in… [Read More]
Oregon
BusinessSmall Business
The Watts family was thrilled to move into their newly constructed house in Harrisburg, Oregon, and become first generation homeowners.

Habitat and USDA Team Up to Create First-generation Homeowners

Donavan and Deborah Watts thought that, like their parents, they would never own their own home. But they were tired of the leaky roof, the water pump that sounded like a jet engine, and the strict landlord who would not allow them to plant a garden in front of their rented… [Read More]
Oregon
Housing
Ashland Food Co-op’s 39-kilowatt solar system is decreasing its carbon footprint, reducing its utility costs, and supporting its sustainability goals.

Food Co-op Provides Leadership on Sustainability Issues

Since it was founded nearly half a century ago, the Ashland Food Co-op in rural southwest Oregon has modeled social and environmental responsibility. In addition to providing sustainably grown, local, organic food, this consumer-owned grocer also strives to minimize its impact… [Read More]
Oregon
Renewable EnergySolar Energy
Geddes Grocery Store Photo

Maintaining Infrastructure Important to Rural South Dakota Grocery Store

As the only grocery store in the town of Geddes, SD, owners Jill & Bob Dyk, had a goal to provide local community members, as well as visitors to the area, with a place to buy grocery items, food and supplies for campers and hunters, general service items, and a place to… [Read More]
South Dakota
REAP
The volunteer firefighters in Reedsport, Oregon, gather around their new fire pumper truck as it is delivered.

USDA Helps Rural Fire Department Replace Essential Equipment

For a small, volunteer fire department, the high cost of equipment can be a significant challenge. That was the case for the Reedsport Fire Department on the central Oregon coast. Their fire pumper truck was past its useful life and posed safety issues. Chief Tom Anderson could… [Read More]
Oregon
Community Facilities

Additional Success Stories