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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
Crystal Dahl in front of her new home.

Heavenly Homeownership Experience

Single mother of three girls Crystal Dahl was determined to make her dream of homeownership a reality. She and the girls were living in an apartment that lacked adequate space and comfort. Crystal began looking at several homes through a realtor and she finally found one she… [Read More]
Homeownership
Logan-Todd Regional Water Commission expansion project ground breaking

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]
Water

Rural Development project uses 3D printing in fight against COVID-19 spread

As Kentucky does its best to battle the spread of COVID-19, state and medical providers are looking for ways to answer the increasing need for medical personal protective equipment. One of those responding in a big way is a somewhat unlikely source: Somerset Community College,… [Read More]
BusinessEconomic DevelopmentHealth CareSmall Business
2020-01-16 - Lane Head Start Buses

Lane Head Start Receives Two New Buses

Waccamaw Economic Opportunity Counsel  recently was awarded two Community Facilities Grants totaling $99,900 to enable them to purchase two buses for the Lane head Start facility located in lane, South Carolina.  The Counsel matched funds for their contribution of $80… [Read More]
Community Facilities
2020-01-28 - Limestone College Groundbreaking

Big News for Limestone College

Ceremonial shovels were standing ready for a groundbreaking ceremony that was held at Limestone College located in Gaffney, South Carolina on January 28, 2020 celebrating a $38 Million Investment from USDA Rural Development which will enable the college to build a new Library… [Read More]
Community Facilities
Camp Nelson Interpretive Center, Nicholasville, KY

Jessamine County preserves Civil War history with help from Rural Development

Just a few minutes south on Route 27 from Nicholasville is arguably one of the most important Civil War locations in the commonwealth. At the start of the Civil War, Kentucky declared its neutrality, but when the Confederacy tried to take the state by force in 1861, the… [Read More]
Community Facilities
Operator managing controls on solar powered irrigation in Railroad Valley, Nevada.

Alfalfa Farmer Saves on Diesel, REAPs Success with Off-Grid Solar

Mark Dunn, the operator of Railroad Valley Farms in Nye County, Nevada, had a unique challenge: how do you power irrigation pumps for 500 acres of alfalfa when your farm is off the grid in one of the most remote areas of the state? With the help of a $253,405 Rural Energy for… [Read More]
REAPRural Development
Goose Creek Candles, Liberty, KY

Goose Creek Candles improves HVAC efficiency, bottom line

Goose Creek Candles is a family-owned company that was founded in 1998 by Chuck Meece in a small Kentucky town. Along with his wife, Tamara, Chuck grew Goose Creek Candles from producing candles from his home to having mass production facilities across the United States. In… [Read More]
REAPSmall Business
Port Orford Sustainable Seafood helps local, small-town fishers market and sell their products.

Rural Fishers Tap Local Foods Market

The commercial fishers in the small southern Oregon coastal community of Port Orford were reliant on the corporate model to sell their catch. “The fishermen here are fiercely individualist and there’s all kinds of characters,” said Aaron Longton, captain of the Goldeneye. “But… [Read More]
Value Added
The state-of-the-art Curry General Hospital offers quality healthcare and expanded medical services in Gold Beach and the surrounding area.

A Rural Hospital Success Story

While stories abound about rural hospitals closing across the country, Curry General Hospital on the southern Oregon coast demonstrates how a rural hospital can expand and thrive. In Gold Beach, residents were served by a small, outdated facility that was built in the 1950s and… [Read More]
Community FacilitiesHealth Care

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