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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: 46 Stories
New Hardy County Public Service District office building.

“They’re Always There for Us”: USDA Helps with Recovery Efforts

It was June 1, 2018, a severe storm had battered Hardy County in eastern West Virginia causing flooding, mudslides, and landslides. The storms brought heavy rain and caused significant damage to private property and public infrastructure in Hardy County. The Hardy County Public… [Read More]
West Virginia
DisasterWastewaterWater
Man standing next to lagoon

Cleaning Wastewater in Harlowton, Montana

Harlowton, Mont., a rural community which also serves as Wheatland County’s seat, modernized their wastewater system with assistance through USDA Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program.  See how they used these funds to transition to UV… [Read More]
Montana
GrantsWastewaterWater

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
Lake Andes group photo

USDA Builds Sound Infrastructure for a Rural South Dakota Community

The City of Lake Andes recognized that two-thirds of the city sewer system was built in the 1920’s with vitrified clay pipe (VC) and brick manholes (MHs). The sewer system was experiencing a significantly high rate of infiltration and inflow causing the sanitary sewer system to… [Read More]
South Dakota
InfrastructureTribalWastewaterWater
Pine Ridge Lift Station

Reliable Infrastructure Provided to the Pine Ridge Community

Pine Ridge is the most populous community in Oglala Lakota County, SD with a population of 3,308. It is located inside the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is the tribal headquarters for the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The lift station in Pine Ridge was in very poor condition with… [Read More]
South Dakota
GrantsInfrastructureTribalWastewaterWater

Rural residents benefit from key interstate partnerships, great timing

When you open the tap on the kitchen sink, you expect to be able to fill your empty glass with cool, refreshing, clean water. Few of us give much thought to where that water came from or how it got there. Thankfully, water districts and municipalities pay close attention to the… [Read More]
Kentucky
Water
Well house

Rural Water System Improvements Prove to be Influencer in New Elementary School

The village of Bladen consistently dealt with issues of coliform violations but worked hard and successfully to keep the problem manageable.  The water storage, a 1911 elevated tank, was in need of painting and resurfacing of the interior and exterior along with sanitary… [Read More]
Nebraska
Water
Booster Station

Water System Improvements for the Village of Homer

The village of Homer, is a small town in Northeast  Nebraska located in Dakota County.  The village was experiencing  unaccounted for water reaching nearly 17 percent of the water pumped throughout the system.  Residents in part of the town were not receiving… [Read More]
Nebraska
Water

Improved Water Service quality for residents in Charlotte County

The residents of Charlotte Harbor CDP and Harbour Heights CDP in Charlotte County, Florida have been suffering from constant interruptions to their water service, boil water notices, and exposure to contamination due to the constant repairs of aged steel pipes. Additionally,… [Read More]
Florida and Virgin Islands
Water

USDA funds water project to install a granular activated carbon filtration system to improve Apalachicola's Water Treatment Plant

The City of Apalachicola’s drinking water was out of compliance for Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM),  a by-product of the chlorine disinfection process. Even though, Trihalomethanes are among the most widespread organic contaminants in drinking water today, they do pose… [Read More]
Florida and Virgin Islands
Water

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