Even before the pandemic, Holt County, Nebraska was facing a rural healthcare emergency. Home to just more than 10,000 people, the large county of 2,413 square miles, needed increased medical resources.

Haylee and Hayden Nix were in the market to purchase their first home after renting a house from a relative. 

Haylee said, “We wanted a home to have our own space and build equity in a property that would benefit us in the future.”

Haylee and Hayden Nix were in the market to purchase their first home after renting a house from a relative. 

Haylee said, “We wanted a home to have our own space and build equity in a property that would benefit us in the future.”

Matthew Romig never really saw themselves as a homeowner, or if they did, the visions they had were of a small one- or two-bedroom house with little to no land.

“I still wake up sometimes wondering where I am, really it's weird. I mean, I've lived all kinds of places,” Matthew said.

Last year, Adam Blondo was visiting with family about wanting to purchase a home, when they told him about the USDA Rural Development 502 Home Loan Program, and he applied. He and his wife Chambre wanted to establish roots in rural Nebraska. 

Once approved, he began his search, finding and signing a purchase agreement in February 2022 for his home in Peru, Nebraska. The family moved in in April.

Jacqueline Begay had applied a couple of times in the past for Rural Development’s 502 home loan program.

She dreamed of buying some land to place a manufactured house on it.  Ms. Begay wanted her own house because she and her son have been living with her family for the last 10 years.