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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 their 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: 111 Stories
Picture of Esterbrook Apartments

Esterbrook Apartments Facelift Nears Completion

By the time the Wyoming Housing Network, Inc. (WHN) purchased the Esterbrook Apartments in August 2010, the twenty-unit complex in Riverton, Wyoming was dire need of renovations. Even worse, the 33-year old complex was at risk of losing its rental support from USDA Rural… [Read More]
HousingMulti-Family
Charles McGaa

Finally a Homeowner

“As a kid, I moved around a lot and never really had a home to call my own,” said Charles McGaa, new homeowner. Through a USDA Rural Development 502 Direct Loan, careful planning and support from Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for Housing, McGaa’s dream of owning his home own… [Read More]
Housing
usda rural development, rural development mississippi, homeownership, single family housing direct loan program

First-Time Home Owner at the Age of 81

At the age of 81, Ms. Gertrude Overstreet and her son Willie Overstreet are the proud owners of a brand new home. Mrs. Overstreet rented her last home for more than 30 years. The condition of the house was inadequate to say the least, and particularly inadequate for Mrs.… [Read More]
Housing
GROW South Dakota Staff

GROW South Dakota 2015 Bush Prize Winner

Recently, GROW South Dakota was named one of eight 2015 Bush Prize winners for Community Innovation.  GROW South Dakota knows that a little help can go a long way. Through an innovative program that provides financial and technical assistance, GROW South Dakota has sparked… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing

Happy Homeowner Thanks to USDA Home Repair Loan

Delois Dotson of Hardeman County was in need of home repairs that she could not afford. Last year, Dotson heard about USDA Rural Development’s Single Family Housing Repair Loans and Grants program through WBOL Radio Station Representative Johnny Shaw. Shaw invited Dotson and… [Read More]
Housing
Willis Netzer

Homeownership is Surreal for New Mobridge, S.D. Homeowner

Willis Netzer was living in an apartment  complex that had come under new ownership recently.  He felt that the new owners, in their move to adopt more restrictive policies, were limiting some of his own personal freedoms; thus, he began his search to find a new place… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing

Lifetime Renter Achieves Homeownership

Rural Development has a multitude of programs that help communities expand upon their existing assets and assist in creating an infrastructure to help improve the lives of rural residents. For Linda Pickett, the opportunity to own a home has long seemed to be a distant reality.… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing

Local, State, Federal Partnership Helps Homeowner

Debbie Wright, City Recorder for the Town of Big Sandy, set out with a goal earlier this year to find a way to help very low income homeowners in Big Sandy and the Benton County Area obtain affordable financing to complete necessary home repairs.  Mrs. Wright contacted Mary… [Read More]
Housing
Eastward Village Duplexes

McCook East Ward Village Apts. Vision Has Come A Reality

McCook, Nebraska experienced a shortage of affordable housing in their community especially for the elderly and handicapped. A group of citizens along with the McCook Housing Authority formed the East Ward Village, LLC. Plans were developed to convert the existing building and… [Read More]
Housing
rural development, rural development mississippi, homeownerhsip, neighborhood revitalization, yazoo city

Neighborhood Revitalization in Rural Mississippi

The Esther Stewart Buford Foundation (ESBF) is a local nonprofit and Community Development Housing Organization located in Yazoo City, Mississippi. They have partnered with Rural Development to administer Self-Help Housing grants from Rural Development for over 15 years. It came… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing

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