Success Stories
Find Stories
Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.
Search Results: 37 Stories
![State Director Perry Hickman and Area Director Laurette Tucker confer with Brick Goldman (right) in the cooperative's original aggregation facility.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/hickman_tucker_goldman.jpg?itok=TfsNROhC)
Small Farmers Think Big to Grow Markets for Southside Virginia Produce
Butterflies are primary pollinators for many vegetables and herbs, helping to ensure a good harvest on Virginia farms. The delicate wings that propel them from flower to flower can carry them many miles to transform the agricultural landscape.
Though most closely associated… [Read More]
![William French standing near produce in his farmers market.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/french_interview.jpg?itok=VP806SqS)
Streamlining Farm Operations in Cumberland
William French’s family farm has been in continuous operation for more than a century, so each generation has had a front row seat for subtle shifts in the agricultural landscape of Central Virginia. Though a lot had changed since his great-great grandfather first grew tobacco… [Read More]
![Worker installing fiber line on an existing electric pole.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/linemen_web.jpg?itok=aljGwwmt)
Transforming Lives and Livelihoods One Connection at a Time
It’s no coincidence that the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) named their internet subsidiary after a small, luminescent insect. The parallels between the push to power rural homes in the 1930’s and the challenge of bringing broadband to remote areas of the state… [Read More]
![Lauren Herby and Will Shepherd selling their syrup at a local festival.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/syrup_sales2.jpg?itok=7ZKl1v1N)
Grant Funding and Farmers Market Sales Support the Sweet Success of Tonoloway Farm
The “sugar makers” of Virginia’s Highland County have been perfecting their art for hundreds of years with some families continuing to produce maple syrup into the sixth and seventh generations. Lauren and Christoph Herby of Tonoloway Farm are putting their own stamp on… [Read More]
![Linda Lawson on the front porch of her Wytheville, Va., home.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/lawson_web.jpg?itok=2yAQxZog)
Putting Home Repairs in the Picture for One Wytheville Resident
You won’t find too many people who love their new roof as much as Linda Lawson. The shiny blue metal sheets not only appeal to her artistic sensibilities but also give her a greater sense of security as a barrier from the storms of life.
The freelance photographer was already… [Read More]
![Cora Suzette Lee on the front porch of her new home.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/leeporch_2.jpg?itok=8gITrQMV)
Rebuilding a Family and Community Legacy in Northampton County
While Virginia’s Eastern Shore is known for its majestic sunsets, beaches and rural country living, a short drive off the main roads of Northampton County reveals a persistent poverty area dotted with aging homes that residents have little or no means to repair. Many properties… [Read More]
![Group photo of new borrowers and Piedmont Habitat for Humanity team](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/piedmont_groupphoto.jpg?itok=gns2ImXb)
Packaging Purchases AND Production to Put More Virginia Families into New Homes
Who doesn’t love breaking open a fortune cookie to find the hidden message inside? The vague prophesies are more fun than fact but intriguing, nonetheless. In Farmville, Va., Piedmont Habitat for Humanity is turning that concept on its head by putting two sturdily constructed… [Read More]
![Fixed Base Operations Manager Chris Botkin (left) gives Area 2 Specialist Robert Wilson a tour of the new hangar while it is under construction.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/hanger_progresscheck2.jpg?itok=H-jZ1mri)
Positioning a Virginia Airport for Landing More and Bigger Clients
While on-time takeoffs and landings are big on the lists of most casual flyers, owners of private and corporate aircraft look for world-class service and hangar space when selecting an airport. The Shenandoah Valley Airport (SHD) was high on the first and beyond capacity on the… [Read More]
![Town officials conferring with an RD staffer at the wastewater treatment plant site.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/IMG_4536.jpg?itok=nbuiq1nU)
Taming an Energy Hog to Support a Growing Community in Elkton
Wastewater treatment is one of those services that most folks only think about when something goes wrong. In Elkton, Va., the quaint brick manholes of this scenic Shenandoah Valley community were covering a simmering issue with the sewer lines below.
The treatment plant was… [Read More]
![Harvest Outreach Center staff pose with new vehicles purchased with Emergency Rural Healthcare Grant funding.](/sites/default/files/styles/success_stories_thumbnail/public/Resized-20221213-114346.jpeg?itok=KgObZy7q)
'Going the Extra Mile' to Provide Post-Pandemic Health Services
While the number and severity of new cases may be down, the coronavirus continues to have a devastating impact on some of the most vulnerable members of the population. The youth served through the Harvest Outreach Center (HOC) in Rustburg, Va., are the faces of a national… [Read More]
Pagination