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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
William French standing near produce in his farmers market.

Streamlining Farm Operations in Cumberland

William French’s family farm has been in continuous operation for more than a century, so each generation has had a front row seat for subtle shifts in the agricultural landscape of Central Virginia. Though a lot had changed since his great-great grandfather first grew tobacco… [Read More]
BroadbandBusinessSmall Business
Senior in NJ talks about food pantry

The Greatest Thing in the World: Senior Praises USDA Rural Development Funded Food Pantry

Originally from Pennsylvania, she’s a self-proclaimed “Jersey girl” who says she can’t help herself when it comes to helping others. “I like to tell the people around here what they should and shouldn’t be doing,” laughed Joan Lombardi, a resident at Kapp Senior Residences in… [Read More]
Local Foods
Worker installing fiber line on an existing electric pole.

Transforming Lives and Livelihoods One Connection at a Time

It’s no coincidence that the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) named their internet subsidiary after a small, luminescent insect. The parallels between the push to power rural homes in the 1930’s and the challenge of bringing broadband to remote areas of the state… [Read More]
Broadband
Picture of a yellow house in rural Nebraska

USDA Rural Development Proud to Support Veteran Marine

USDA Rural Development is proud to support United States Veteran Marine Roy Oliver through the Single Family Housing Repair Loans & Grants Program.  Mr. Oliver served in the Marines guarding supplies of ammunition.  Today, he is happily settled in Fairbury,… [Read More]
Home RepairHousing
Roberts County patrol cruiser parked outside Sheriff's Department.

Equipment upgrades improve response, community relations in Roberts County

When Deputy Trevor Mishler was hired by Roberts County Sheriff's Department, there weren’t enough patrol cruisers to go around and some of the equipment being used by deputies was outdated and past its serviceable life. The Sheriff and county staff gave the deputy the green… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesFirst RespondersRural DevelopmentUnderserved
Wagner Early Childhood facility image

Developing Young Minds in Rural South Dakota

Wagner Early Childhood in south-central South Dakota has been caring for children for more than 30 years and Rural Development Community Facilities loans and grants have helped in many ways, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When schools and businesses closed because of… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesRural Development
Montana MFH Specialist Natalie Plummer and Sage Apartment owners Robbie Carpenter (C) and Vince Winterhalter (R).

Two Generations Partnering with USDA on Affordable Housing in Rural Montana Town

The Sage Apartments is a 12-unit multi-family housing complex that provides quality, safe, and affordable housing for eligible seniors and persons with disabilities in a rural Harlowton, Montana. “With the ongoing housing crisis, there are limited options in rural communities,… [Read More]
Housing
Marias Health Care Facility

New Clinic Provides Increased Access to Health Care in Rural Montana

What happens to a vacant big-box retail space in a rural community with leaders who have a vision and passion for service? In the case of Shelby, Montana, rural residents here and beyond will benefit with increased access to quality, affordable health care at a new, state-of-the… [Read More]
Health Care
Martin Family in front of home

Martin Family Achieves Homeownership on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation Through Packaging Partnerships

On June 9, 2023, in recognition of Homeownership Month, USDA Rural development (RD) New York had the privilege of celebrating the newest homeowner on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. Randa Martin and her four children (Logan, Brody, Liana and Lolani) welcomed the… [Read More]
Tribal
Barry and Max McFarland

Mac's Creek: Building a Legacy in Lexington

Mac’s Creek Winery and Brewery in Lexington, Nebraska is a family business in more ways than one. The business has grown from the seed of an idea conjured up by Max and Theresa McFarland over twenty years ago to a thriving business, brewery, winery, event space, and source of… [Read More]
BusinessSmall Business

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