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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: 140 Stories
Kylie Beckman Photo

Greater Future Envisioned Becomes Reality for New Rural South Dakota Homeowner

Kylie Beckman had been renting a townhouse in Madison, SD.  Oftentimes, she found herself tossing around the idea of becoming a homeowner. One defining day, she woke up and decided that it was time to take steps toward that greater future she’d envisioned by pursuing… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing
Hernandez Homeownership

Pursuing Dreams through Partnerships

Yaramis (Yara) Ramos Hernandez a single mother from Cuba who recently achieved U.S. Citizenship last December. Responsible for both her 9 year-old daughter and elderly mother, Yara reached out to Pinnacle Bank, long-time lending partner of USDA Rural Development, to learn more… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousingRural Development
The Echeverria Family outside their new home.

From Trailer House to New Home

Jose Mendez Echeverria, wife Eliana and two year old daughter Aitana resided in a trailer house for nine years in Crete, Neb.  They were ready to buy a home that had more space and comfort.  Crete has a lack of housing available creating an obstacle.  A friend of… [Read More]
Homeownership

Dreams Are Being Built in Benton County

Gail Arnold’s dream of constructing a new home on her family’s property is coming true, with a home loan through the USDA’s Rural Development Rural Housing 502 loan program.  “This is my dream come true and I am so appreciative!” Arnold said at the ground breaking with… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing

Dreams Are Being Built in Lake County

Cora Wyatt‘s dream of constructing a new home on her own property is coming true with a home loan through a partnership between the USDA’s Rural Development Rural Housing 502 loan program and FAHE’s (Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises, Inc) Project Reinvest initiative… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing

Two Thumbs Up for Homeownership

Morgan Linden-Lowell was living in a loft style apartment in Lexington, NE.  He desired to move into a home of his own that would be closer to his work.  Morgan attended a Rural Development Community Housing Meeting in Lexington, NE and learned that he could become a… [Read More]
Homeownership
The Bailay Family

Commuting Time Can Make the Difference in Buying a Home

Cody and Amber Bailey and their daughter Savannah were living in a house in Milligan, Nebraska that Cody had bought before he got married.  The house was a real fixer upper and Cody didn’t have the funds for the repairs.  Amber is a new stay at home mother and Cody… [Read More]
Homeownership
The Tangeman Family

Look at Those Homeownership Smiles!

  Rebecca Tangeman and her three children had resided in the home she owned in Topeka, Kansas for 10 years. Due to transitions, she moved to Norfolk, Nebraska in the summer of 2013 back to the roots of where she grew up and had also been a graduate from Wayne State College… [Read More]
Homeownership
Sherry Morgan Event Group Photo

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Reservation Member Becomes First Time Homeowner

Sherry Louise Morgan is an enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.  She has worked hard for two years to obtain her dream  of not only homeownership  but to complete this dream on her mom and dad’s leased land where she lived as a young girl.  In… [Read More]
HomeownershipHousing
NVhomeowner

Rural Nevada Teachers Can "Live the Dream" of Homeownership with USDA Loans

Rural teachers are heroes. Working tirelessly to educate children and youth, they should not have to worry about where they live after an invigorating day at work. Yet in many areas of rural Nevada, rental inventory is low and sometimes expensive. That's where a USDA home loan… [Read More]
Homeownership

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