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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: 145 Stories
Graphic of a smiling family with the words Success Stories on it.

“There’s No Quitting on My Kids”: USDA Helps Mom Make it OK

A USDA Rural Development (RD) Single Family Housing Direct Home Loan often provides people in rough situations a way to recover and heal from life’s debilitating blows. For Candice Donovan in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, buying a home through this program — (also known as… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022

Homeowner Success: Young Family Establishes Roots in Peru

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… [Read More]
Nebraska
Homeownership
Jacqueline Begay's home under construction

The 502 Home Loan Program Make Dreams Come True

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… [Read More]
New Mexico
Homeownership
Gertudis Fierro home under construction

Single mom gets a home for her family

Gertrudis Fierro was very excited when the mortgage loan on her new house closed on February 18th 2022. She said, “Owning my own house has so many pluses especially because I won’t have to pay rent,” something she’s been doing for the past four years. USDA Rural Development’s… [Read More]
New Mexico
Homeownership
Three smiling girls in winter coats in front of a snow covered field.

“No One is Homesick”: A City Family Finds Rural Peace

“We were living in Cincinnati for over a decade,” says Emmy Clark, who, with help from a USDA Rural Development (RD) Single Family Housing Direct Home Loan, moved to Orleans County, Vermont, with her husband and three school-aged children last year. “The idea was for our kids… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022
Smiling woman standing next to a river. Trees in the background.

The Right Stuff: A Community Builder Finds Her Community

“People out there are having a tough time buying a home—it’s very stressful,” reflects Wendy Levy, who bought a home in Bellows Falls, Vermont with help from a USDA direct home loan. “For me, buying a house wasn’t always perfect, but dealing with Alex and the USDA was the least… [Read More]
Vermont and New Hampshire
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022

Senior Finds Speedy Assistance for Reliable Water Source

Peggy McCellan, a senior with limited income, living in Wayne County, West Virginia was faced with a serious situation in 2021. Ms. McCellan did not have a reliable source of water service to her home. In fact, for over a period of 8 months she found herself without any water… [Read More]
West Virginia
Home RepairHomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022Rural Partners NetworkWater
Smiling woman sitting on the brick front steps of a while house.

New York Family Finds a New Home in New Jersey

Khine Moe grew up in New City, New York, but always dreamed of having a big home and blossoming garden. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, it was the push she needed to make her dream a reality. She started searching for affordable loan programs and found USDA Rural Development… [Read More]
New Jersey
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022
A smiling family, father, mother, two young daughters, standing on the porch of their own home.

Couple Turns Wishes of Homeownership into Reality with USDA and Four Directions

“When we walked in, I felt like an imposter - Like I just stole somebody’s house,” said Michael Carlos, a Houlton, Maine native and fiancé of Sakoya Blackwell, a member of the Maliseet Indian Tribe in Houlton. “I couldn’t believe it was really ours.” For years, their family… [Read More]
Maine
HomeownershipHomeownership Month 2022Tribal
USDA offers loans and grants to low and very low income individuals to make repairs to their homes.

USDA Helps to Make Rural Resident's Home Safer!

Patsy Reckart of Weston, Lewis County, in rural West Virginia is a local author and a senior citizen who one day found herself in need of some home modifications for the sake of her own health and safety. Ms. Reckart had fallen in her bathtub and was unable to get out of the… [Read More]
West Virginia
Home RepairHomeownership

Additional Success Stories