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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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Find Stories

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

Search Results: 122 Stories
Jaimee Souksan and her two kids were able to realize the American dream of home ownership with the help of a USDA Rural Development loan in Nebraska.

Souksan Family Realizes the American Dream in Nebraska

Homeownership, for many, it’s the ultimate American dream. However, it can be difficult to achieve in a challenging economy, especially for those of limited means, but it is not impossible. In 2020, Jaimee Souksan made the dream come true for her family of three when she… [Read More]
Nebraska
HomeownershipHousing
Solar panels being installed

Home repair loan helps family drastically cut electric bills

Keeping the electric on was crippling the Maggard family. Electric bills ranging from $300-$600 per month ate up the majority of the family’s fixed income. HOMES Inc., one of Rural Development’s strong housing partners in Eastern Kentucky, led a project combining funding… [Read More]
Kentucky
EnergyHome RepairHomeownershipHousingRural DevelopmentSolar Energy
carrillo-family.jpeg

Petersburg's Newest Homeowners are all Smiles

The Carrillo family had outgrown their two-bedroom house and started to look for a home that was more accommodating to their needs.  Jesus and Jasmine had hopes to buy a house in Petersburg where they currently lived and had grown up.  The Carillo's had heard about the… [Read More]
Texas
Housing
brownfield-may-2021.jpg

Brownfield Native Continues Tradition

Megan Lopez was looking to purchase a home and raise her family in the town she grew up in. Megan had lived in a USDA Rural Development Multi-Family property in Brownfield for the last three years, but it was time to find a permanent single family home.  As Megan began her… [Read More]
Texas
Housing
USDA offers loans and grants to low and very low income individuals to make repairs to their homes.

First-Time Homebuyer’s Dream Comes True with USDA Loan

June Walker, a single parent, was living in unsafe rental housing with her two special needs children. She wanted to improve her family’s living conditions. She took the first step towards homeownership by contacting the Cross Lanes Field Office of USDA Rural Development to… [Read More]
West Virginia
Housing
Retirees Sandra and Daniel purchased their first home in Pahrump, Nev., with an affordable USDA mortgage loan.

Life-long Caregivers Achieve Homeownership in Retirement

Throughout their careers, Sandra and Daniel cared for others. They worked at the same long-term care facility in San Francisco, Sandra as a registered nurse and Daniel as a dietician. When they retired, they decided to move to Las Vegas. “We always wanted to have… [Read More]
Nevada
Housing
Amanda and her family in front of their new home

A Single Mom's Road to Homeownership

As a single mother raising two little boys in Kalispell Mont., Amanda D. wanted to purchase a home for her family. But, with a modest income and skyrocketing housing costs, this dream seemed to be out of reach."Trying to buy a home with any traditional mortgage, it would just… [Read More]
Montana
HomeownershipHousing
Photo of Corina Ponce and her son

USDA Helps Renovate Homeowner’s Safe Haven

Nearly three years ago, Corina Ponce had purchased a bank-owned home in Redfield, SD. She acquired the property knowing it had been vacant for a few years and needed major repairs. The time had come when she was ready to move forward with repairs to the home. One evening, she… [Read More]
South Dakota
Home RepairHomeownershipHousing

Homeownership Gives Rural Family a Lifetime of Security, Safety Amid Pandemic

The Mitchell family was living on top of each other in their cramped apartment in the rural town of Tillamook on the northern Oregon coast. The exposed wiring in the second bedroom forced them to share the master with their two young children. They applied for a mortgage loan,… [Read More]
Oregon
Housing
Ms. Hill in her new home.

RD Helps Mother Buy Her First Home

One of the most rewarding feelings for us at USDA Rural Development is making the call to an applicant once they're approved for a loan under the 502 Direct Home Program. You can hear the excitement in their voice and you can feel the gratitude through the phone lines.… [Read More]
Mississippi
HomeownershipHousing

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