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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: 42 Stories
Community meets to discuss creating a home care cooperative in their community

Home Care Cooperative Training Meets Pressing Need in Rural Nebraska

It started with a simple phone call. A few years ago, a woman contacted Cindy Houlden, the Cooperative Business Director at the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center, with a question about home care cooperative job opportunities. At the time, Houlden and her team were not… [Read More]
CooperativesGrantsHealth CareUnderserved
Leaders from USDA Rural Development and Sen. Murkowski's office break ground for the Chugachmiut Regional Health Center.

USDA Rural Development celebrates Chugachmiut Regional Health Center groundbreaking

USDA Rural Development Alaska State Director Julia Hnilicka attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Chugachmiut Regional Health Center in Seward, Alaska, Saturday, June 3. The occasion marked the start of construction of the $20 million facility. “The past three years really… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesGrantsHealth CareInfrastructureRural DevelopmentTribalUnderserved
Hospital staff assisting patient with mammography screening

Winning in Winner with Advanced Technology

Giving patients the best and most thorough mammography screening experience is so important to a rural community, but the technology doesn’t last forever. That’s exactly what Winner Regional Health experienced when their aging two-dimensional (2D) mammography imaging wasn’t… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesGrantsHealth Care
Harvest Outreach Center staff pose with new vehicles purchased with Emergency Rural Healthcare Grant funding.

'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]
GrantsHealth CareMental Health
Smiling woman named Lisa Fensick standing in front of a new ambulance she helped obtain for her fire station.

Rural Healthcare Worker Lisa Fensick: An Everyday Hero Saving Lives

First responders are often on the front lines of health care, and their impact to rural communities has been immeasurable. For Lisa Fensick of Seaford, Delaware, this impact drove her desire to become a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT).  “I became… [Read More]
First RespondersHealth CareRural Development
Walworth County Care Center staff photo

Center Keeps Selby Citizens Safe

Nestled on Selby's eastern edge sits the Walworth County Care Center. The center originally opened in the 1960s and has served the area’s 5,300 residents for over six decades. But in 2018, the owners of the center deemed it unprofitable and notified staff the facility would be… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesHealth CareRural Development
Cooperative developers and members of home care cooperatives gather at the National Home Care Cooperative Conference. Group of smiling people standing in a large open room.

Strength in Members: Cooperative Home Care Resiliency in a Time of Crisis

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, home care cooperatives were a beacon of hope for overburdened health care workers and the industry that faced its breaking point. Many workers who wanted a stake in the day-to-day operations turned to the cooperative business model, which allows… [Read More]
CooperativesGrantsHealth CareRural Development
Community hospital new wing of building

Community Hospital Completes $16 Million Renovation with Assistance from USDA Rural Development & Thayer County Bank

Community Hospital in McCook, Nebraska recently completed an addition and remodel of their facilities with a $16 million investment from USDA Rural Development (RD) and Thayer County Bank. The work took four years to complete and was finished in August 2022.  The hospital… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesHealth CareRural Development
Day County Ambulance

Day County receives Rural Development Grant to purchase ambulance service

Located in the northeastern corner of South Dakota sits a county dotted with lakes, ponds and rolling hills. Agriculture plays an important role in the economy, and when summer and fall arrive, Day County sees its population more than double as anglers, hunters and outdoorsmen… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesFirst RespondersGrantsHealth Care
Nurse in a healthcare facility

Rural Healthcare Spotlight: Livingston HealthCare

Livingston HealthCare is a 125,000 square-foot critical access hospital in Livingston Montana.  In 2015, they utilized USDA Rural Development the Community Facility Direct Loan and Grant program to secure funding for a new facility which serves Park County’s rural… [Read More]
Health Care

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