Rural Development

The Feds Feed Families (FFF) drive is a great opportunity for all of us to give something to those who are less fortunate. I accepted the challenge and went out Saturday morning and did some shopping and loaded up 285 pounds of food. It was actually quite fun to think about what someone might like...

Our June Feds Feed Families totals are in, and I would like to give my USDA colleagues across the country a discreet, virtual high-five. Today, Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA donated just over 100,000 pounds of food to the Feds Feed Families food drive during the month of June. What a great...

One of Mississippi’s largest USDA Rural Development awards was recently celebrated in Lowndes County, where local leaders expect the improvements made by this award to lead to hundreds of jobs. USDA Rural Development State Director Trina George was joined by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker and numerous...

In a small, quaint housing development in south-central Pennsylvania, families are constructing new homes with the help of a unique government program. USDA Rural Development’s Self-Help Housing Program provides mortgage financing to homeowners and a technical assistance grant to a non-profit agency...

What better time than National Homeownership Month to host a housing development workshop? Local officials in Pike County, Alabama, recognized the shortage of available housing for individuals and families interested in relocating to the area because of the hundreds of new job opportunities...

Staff from the Colorado State Offices of the Farm Service Agency, Food and Nutrition Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Rural Development have joined forces in support of the People’s Garden “Share Your Harvest” Campaign. For a second year, the agencies have partnered with the...

Michigan always has unpredictable weather, and Friday’s was exactly what one would expect – unexpected. I’m sure when they scheduled the groundbreaking for the Fremont community anaerobic digester, NOVI Energy assumed that late June would see warm weather and clear skies. Instead, the temperature...

A few years ago, Mihai & Mihaiela Giurca reluctantly left both their native land of Romania to start fresh in New Jersey. In 2007 they became permanent residents and moved to a one bedroom apartment in Atlantic City. Both worked diligently to learn the language and obtain steady employment in the...

While on a recent visit to Oregon, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Victor Vasquez visited the Canyon East farm worker housing complex currently under construction in Madras. The USDA-supported facility is scheduled for completion in August, with families moving in shortly...

Starting a new career, Cody Thibert moved his wife and their three children to a new community. Searching for a home in Valley City, North Dakota, Cody heard about USDA Rural Development through his father’s co-worker. He decided to inquire about the housing programs and found a fit with the...