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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: 878 Stories
Glenville Police Department on patrol.

USDA Helps Improve Public Safety in Glenville

The city of Glenville, West Virginia is a little safer now thanks to assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. Since 2018, Rural Development has provided a total of $72,950 in grant funding to Glenville State University (GSU) and the city… [Read More]
West Virginia
Community FacilitiesRural Partners Network
Betsy White, Executive Director of the William King Museum of Art

Collaborating to Preserve the Art and Culture of Southwest Virginia

Many museums inspire awe and wonder, transporting visitors back to the past or giving them a glimpse of the future, but few can claim to be a paradise for those who walk through the doors. The William King experience reaches that level for many people in Southwest Virginia who… [Read More]
Virginia
Community Facilities
A woman in a red shirt and a man in a green shirt stand in front of a windrow turner machine at an outdoor compost facility. Mounds of compost are behind them under a blue sky with clouds.

Completing the Circle: Composting Locally

For Monique DiGiorgio, co-owner of Table to Farm Compost in Durango, Colorado, there is a full circle order to things. What we put out into the world has the potential to directly impact what we receive back.At Table to Farm Compost, this cycle happens in a literal manner every… [Read More]
Colorado
Fertilizer Production Expansion Program
A woman stands in the lobby area of a small gym in rural Colorado. A teal colored sign with a skull and wing logo for Catacombs Fitness Collective is displayed on the wall behind her.

Sunny Southwest Colorado Gym Owner Adds Solar to Support Community Spirit

Tracie Holcomb, the owner of Catacombs Fitness Collective in Durango, Colorado, has continually sought ways to enhance her gym’s role as a community cornerstone. “Our motto is fitness and community,” says Tracie. “We think if people have a safe space where their friends are,… [Read More]
Colorado
EnergyREAPRenewable EnergySmall BusinessSolar Energy
Celine Leavitt stands in front of an outbuilding at her overnight stay guest accommodations in rural Colorado. The building has solar panels mounted on it. In the background is Sleeping Ute Mountain.

Clean Energy Powers Ancient Echoes

When Celine Leavitt and her wife Allison Troxel visited McElmo Canyon near Cortez, Colorado, they felt an unmistakable connection to the land. After camping for a single night at the serene space called Ancient Echoes at Kelly Place, both agreed the “for sale by owner” sign was… [Read More]
Colorado
Renewable EnergySmall BusinessSolar Energy
DeSoto Regional Health groundbreaking ceremony.

DeSoto Regional Health Breaks Grounds on $50 Million Expansion with $32 million USDA Loan, Enhancing Emergency and Urgent Care for Rural Louisiana

With a $32 million Community Facilities direct loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, DeSoto Regional Health, a 70-year-old hospital in Mansfield, LA, broke ground on renovations and expansions to add a 16-bed medical/surgical unit, a 9-bed… [Read More]
Louisiana
Community FacilitiesHealth Care
RBCS Administrator Betsy Dirksen Londrigan gives a speech at the new REAP project at the Carlisle Expo Center in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

New Solar Projects Shine at Carlisle Expo Center

It takes a lot of resources to execute events at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds and Carlisle Expo Center.  There’s manpower, wind power, horsepower, and all new for 2025, solar power.  Carlisle Events, in partnership with the USDA and Solar Renewable Energy of… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Solar Energy
Photo of nurse using a nuclear medicine camera

Better Local Healthcare for Florida’s Rural Panhandle with USDA

Just north of Interstate 10, and ninety minutes away from Pensacola to the west and Tallahassee to the east you’ll find Bonifay, Florida. This small community of 2,700 is the county seat for Holmes County, and like many other rural communities of its size, the people here are… [Read More]
Florida and Virgin Islands
Health Care
New homeowner Kaitlyn and son with new home funded by Rural Development Single Family Housing loan.

A New Beginning: How Rural Development Made Homeownership Possible for a Louisiana Family

Inspiring Journey to Homeownership Meet Kaitlyn, a determined single mother from rural Louisiana whose dream of owning a home became a reality through the USDA Rural Development's Section 502 Direct Loan Program. Kaitlyn envisioned providing her son, Tyrin, with the comfort and… [Read More]
Louisiana
HomeownershipHomeownership 2024
Photo of Walt and Deidre Iciek of Taraanthon Cattle

Michigan Dairy Cuts Electricity Costs by up to 90 Percent with REAP Grant

Dairy cows and sustainability have always been a part of Deidre Iciek’s life. As the oldest daughter of two veterinarians, she grew up around animals, large and small, from the time she was born. After high school, she majored in environmental studies at Michigan State… [Read More]
Michigan
REAPSolar Energy

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