Preparing to search for and purchase your first home can be a confusing and exhausting time, but for the Erickstad's that process proved to be very rewarding for their young family of six.

It was a Sunday afternoon when Berlynn Simmons was standing in line to check out at a local big box store located in the Low Country of South Carolina.  She noticed that a local Realtor was standing in the line behind her and decided to ask her some questions about the home buying process.  The Realtor asked her a few questions and after listening to Berlynn's response, she said with a smile, "What are you waiting for?"

The road towards homeownership for the Scharff family wasn't easy.  However, with the help of USDA Rural Development, miracles do happen. 

In 2015, Jessie Scharff returned home to take care of her mother, who's health had started to decline.  Sadly, her mother died a short time thereafter.  Jessie was crushed.  She was an only child and her mother was everything to her.  Jessie spiraled into depression and soon found herself to be pregnant, alone, and homeless. 

The last piece of this business expansion puzzle must be USDA Rural Development. Excel Boats, LLC determined in Fall 2017 they wanted to expand their business.  At the time, the company was building aluminum boats at their only manufacturing plant in Mountain View, Ark. Prior to needing the last piece of the puzzle, a tremendous amount of work had been done.  The company visited several states in the Southeast Region but eventually landed on a site in Northwest Tenn. 

Single mother of three girls Crystal Dahl was determined to make her dream of homeownership a reality. She and the girls were living in an apartment that lacked adequate space and comfort.

Crystal began looking at several homes through a realtor and she finally found one she fell in love with. The house is a beautiful four-bedroom, two bathroom, ranch style home with a double garage, huge fenced in yard and a shed in a beautiful new development area.

When you open the tap on the kitchen sink, you expect to be able to fill your empty glass with cool, refreshing, clean water. Few of us give much thought to where that water came from or how it got there.