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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 farmer looks at produce for sale at the Barreras Farm Market.

Feeding the Body, Enriching the Mind

The motto of the Barreras Family Farm and Farm Market is “Feeding the Body, Enriching the Mind.”  Mariel and Anthony Barreras, along with their eight children, bring this motto to life. Together, they run the farm and store – and do so much more. The Barreras family… [Read More]
Food SupplyGrantsLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSmall BusinessValue Added
Chris Wall and his family in their cherry orchard

Keeping it local works best for Utah orchard farmer

Wall Brothers Orchards has been in the fruit growing business for more than 50 years, growing apples, peaches, and cherries in Payson, Utah. The highest quality fruit is selected to sell to distributors and consumers in Orchard Brothers Farmer’s Market. Every growing season a… [Read More]
Food SupplyGrantsLocal FoodsLocal ProduceValue Added
Rock County Librarians Macey Lackoff and Kim Orr

There's More to the Story

National Library Week is April 23-29. The theme this year is “There’s More to the Story.” To the folks in north central Nebraska, where towns are small and there are many miles between homes, farms, and ranches, this theme comes to life at the Rock County Community Library. For… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesEducationGrantsRecreation
Michael Mitchell outside his home in Aberdeen.

Working together for homeownership

The saying ‘it takes a village’ can carry many meanings. For Aberdeen resident Michael Mitchell, it meant multiple organizations coming together to help homeowners like him find and purchase an affordable home. Through a partnership between USDA Rural Development (RD), Homes… [Read More]
GrantsHome RepairHomeownershipHousing
Barbara and her pet cat.

A Welcoming Home

Barbara Svatos is a proud member of the Wisner community. She helps run the scale for truck drivers hauling cattle in and out of a local feedlot. In this way, Barbara is part of the global food supply chain from her home in northeast Nebraska. USDA Rural Development’s … [Read More]
Home RepairHomeownershipHousing
Renewable Lubricants CEO Bill Garmier stands in front of barrels of Lubricant Products

REAP Adds Another Level of Sustainability to Bio-based Business

After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Bill Garmier returned to Ohio with nothing but starting a family farm on his mind. For years, his family would plant and harvest corn and soybeans, but when the market began to change Garmier knew he needed to find an additional source of… [Read More]
BiobasedBiopreferredEnergyREAPRenewable EnergySolar Energy
A water treatment facility at Seal Rock, Oregon.

Collaboration and Climate Resilience: Seal Rock Water District Finds A New Source

Seal Rock’s drinking water was in danger. For nearly 50 years, Seal Rock Water District (SRWD) relied on water purchased from the nearby town of Toledo, Oregon. The water could only be delivered through a 7-mile-long, underground pipeline. Already prone to landslides and… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesDisasterWastewaterWater
Town officials conferring with an RD staffer at the wastewater treatment plant site.

Taming an Energy Hog to Support a Growing Community in Elkton

Wastewater treatment is one of those services that most folks only think about when something goes wrong. In Elkton, Va., the quaint brick manholes of this scenic Shenandoah Valley community were covering a simmering issue with the sewer lines below. The treatment plant was… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesGrantsInfrastructureRural DevelopmentWastewaterWater
Oxidation Ditch at Poplar Wastewater Treatment Facility

Re-Building a Wastewater Treatment Facility in Rural Montana

Located on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, the City of Poplar is a thriving rural community of 759. It serves as Tribal headquarters of the Fort Peck Tribes and sits along Montana’s famed Hi-Line – the state’s northernmost route running from the North Dakota border in the east… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesTribalWastewaterWater
(L-R) Jessi, Abby, and Mariah, co-owners of Montana RancHers Beef Co., in Hilger, MT

Rural Montana Women Turn 'Side Project' into Profitable Operation

Nestled in the heart of central Montana’s Fergus County sits the town of Hilger, home to the Montana RancHers Beef Co. This woman-owned beef production business, which formed in 2020 during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, is a collaborative three-family operation that… [Read More]
GrantsLocal FoodsValue Added

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