Rural Stories

RCAC rural stories are a compilation of success stories and case studies developed each quarter. The rural stories feature technical assistance, training and resources that RCAC rural development specialists provide to complete water, wastewater or housing projects. The stories describe what problems the communities faced, how the projects came together, funding options and how the problems were addressed. These stories are also often highlighted in RCAC’s Network News and Self-Help Builder e-Newsletters.

The stories are archived and rotate randomly on the website. To submit an RCAC case study or success story idea, contact swills@rcac.org or eanderson@rcac.org.

Recent Rural Stories

Housing Resources of Western Colorado

Demand in the traditional housing market may be sluggish, but the demand for affordably built self-help housing is still very much alive; and unlike other homeownership opportunities of the past decade, it has been largely unaffected by foreclosures. … More

 

RCAC loan helps CHB buy self-help lots

RCAC’s $1.054 million acquisition loan made it possible for Community Home Builders (CHB) to purchase finished lots, which allowed CHB to maintain an inventory of lots for its very active and successful self-help housing program. … More

 

RCAC loan helps city of Wendell bring sewer system into compliance

The city of Wendell is in south central Idaho in Gooding County, approximately 95 miles southeast of Boise. … More

 

Hawaii Agriculture Research Center preserves agricultural worker housing on the Island of Oahu

When Del Monte ceased pineapple production in Hawaii and left the Island, more than 600 people living in Kunia Village were in jeopardy of losing the homes, which some had occupied for generations. … More

 

RCAC assists Coyote Creek with water system challenges

Coyote Creek is a Colonia with inadequate water service, and a very high incidence of substandard housing conditions. … More

 

RCAC gap loan eases water system crisis

Dolan Springs is an unincorporated community approximately 40 miles north of Kingman, Arizona in Mohave County. … More

 

Montana nonprofit organization collaborates to develop affordable housing

Butte, Montana is a community that represents the boom and bust of the silver and copper mining of years past. A Superfund site and home of the Berkley Pit, uptown Butte abounds with run down, vacant homes full of hazardous waste materials. … More

 

New Mexico owner-occupied rehabilitation activities in the Pueblo of Zia

The Pueblo of Zia is located 35 miles northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico and is situated in the steep mountain slopes and canyons of the Sierra Nacimiento Mountains. … More

 

Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation provides homeownership opportunities for low-income households

Since 2001, Neighborhood Nonprofit Housing Corporation (NNHC) has assisted 215 families achieve homeownership through the USDA Rural Development Mutual Self-Help Housing Program, and to date, none have gone into foreclosure. … More

 

RCAC helps a tribe and surrounding community prevent illegal dumping

The arroyos of northern New Mexico are strewn with hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal dump sites. Solid waste transfer stations are often as many as 40 miles away from rural homes, and there has been a huge swell in the number and size of illegal dump sites in recent years. … More

 
 

Page 1 of 4    1 2 3 4    Next >