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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: 769 Stories
A woman with a bag walks towards the door of a newly built childcare center.

Lasting Legacy: How a Vision for Childcare Was Built in Griswold, Iowa

Since 1869, the Noble Center United Methodist Church stood on a hill at the corner of Highway 71 and Victoria Road in Noble Township, Cass County, Iowa. Four years ago, the last remaining members gathered. “We had to make final decisions on where and how to gift the remaining… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesFirst RespondersGrantsHousingRural Development
Woman holding lettuce grown in aquaponic greenhouse.

Family Roots Run Deep Growing Aquaponic Produce in Montana

Dinner plates in Billings, Montana, will have more leafy greens thanks to a family-owned farm and grant from USDA Rural Development. Taking its name from family and honoring its deep Montana history, Swanky Roots is a year-round aquaponics greenhouse specializing in organically… [Read More]
Local Produce
Cane Bay Fire Station

A Significant Milestone for the Community

Whitesville Rural Volunteer Fire Department has received $3,300,000 through the USDA Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program to construct the new Cane Bay Fire Station in Berkeley County's Cane Bay community. Berkeley County, known for its rapid growth, houses over… [Read More]
Community Facilities
Green Chile Bacon

Helping a Chile Processing Company Expand

Things were a lot different when Preston Mitchell started his business 18 years ago. That year he sold three thousand dollars of green chile. Also, he was only 15 years old when he started his business. The next year he sold thirty-five thousand dollars of Hatch chile. Since… [Read More]
photo of ribbon cutting

Rural Community’s First Hospice Center

For the people of Glasgow, Kentucky, a collaboration between T.J. Community Mission Foundation, the city, Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative, and USDA Rural Development helped to meet a critical need in the community. In 2020, the city was able to open its first hospice center… [Read More]
BusinessCooperativesEconomic DevelopmentHealth CareRural Development
group photo of a ribbon cutting

Garbage Turned into Energy

Have you ever ridden by a landfill and watch flames coming out of pipes emerging from the debris and say to yourself-what a waste of energy/heat??? That’s called off gassing to relieve gas build up from garbage. Although, in 2013, Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. (RECC)… [Read More]
BusinessCooperativesRural DevelopmentSmall Business
Administistrator Andrew Berke Speaking At Bamberg, S.C. ReConnect Event

USDA ReConnect Is Paving the Way for a More Connected and Prosperous Future for All Residents

Columbia, S.C., February 9, 2024 - Last fall, the Rural Utilities Service Administrator Andrew Berke visited Bamberg, South Carolina, to announce a significant $24 million investment through the ReConnect Program for broadband infrastructure enhancements in Orangeburg and… [Read More]
High Speed Internet
The Moulton volunteer fire department station with the US flag flying in front of in lies along the main street in town.

Moulton, Iowa, Modernizes Fire Department

In the southernmost tier of Iowa counties lies the quiet town of Moulton in Appanoose County. Far from an urban area, the town, population 607, is small, but offers several convenient services along Main Street. The local telecommunications company, Moulton city hall, and a… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesFirst RespondersHigh Speed Internet
An aircraft landing at Luray Caverns Airport

Airport Upgrades Take Wing in Page County

While chicken coops are pretty common in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, it IS unusual to find one being used as an airport terminal. The original function may not be readily apparent to first-time visitors, but it’s easy to see that the converted poultry house has seen better… [Read More]
Community Facilities
Rural Partners Network staff help those impacted by flooding in East Kentucky.

Rural Partners Network & federal agencies remove barriers for disaster recovery in Kentucky

When President Joe Biden and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Rural Partners Network in April 2022, it was unlikely they could have predicted how quickly that network would become a necessary lifeline to the communities it serves. Rural… [Read More]

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