Late last month Mississippi USDA Rural Development State Director Trina George attended the Kilmichael Clinic opening ceremony. The event celebrated the clinic’s completion and provided opportunities to tour the new facility. There was a great turnout and everyone was thrilled to see the new building, which has nine examination rooms and a waiting room to accommodate 40 people.

The Kilmichael project received a $1.4 million loan from USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program in 2009. The Community Facility loan was obtained to construct a new clinic to provide health care services for the citizens of the Town of Kilmichael, Montgomery County, and the surrounding rural communities. “Kilmichael Hospital has been serving this community for decades,” said State Director George. “So when the opportunity came to award funding to construct a new healthcare clinic, I knew this would be a great service to this community and to this organization.” Read more »

“Back to School Week” is often the most thrilling and the hectic time for students (As a student I have experienced this first hand). The campus atmosphere is filled with excitement, expectation and the ringing of laughter. In between purchasing textbooks and memorizing course schedules students are busy reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, getting involved in campus activities and moving into their dorms.  For many students in rural areas, these activities fade at the end of the day as they return home.  However, there is a growing movement amongst rural community colleges to extend the college experience.

Colleges like Fulton-Montgomery Community College (FMCC) are offering dormitory housing to students.  Students living on campus is common place at major colleges and universities however, is seldom seen in rural community colleges.  This is changing.  During a recent tour promoting “Back to School Week”  Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Doug O’Brien discovered first hand just how so. Read more »

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development (RD) Business and Cooperative Programs Administrator Judith Canales (black suit) assists at the groundbreaking of the Riverhouse Children’s Center in Durango, CO on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. USDA RD provided $1.6 million in Community Facility loan funding for the project. USDA photo by Amy Mund.

Riverhouse Children’s Center in Durango, Colorado strives to provide high quality care and early education services to young children from ages six weeks through five years old.  In 2012, the center serves approximately 80 children in its five classrooms.  Realizing their current location needed updating and to be expanded, the entity sought out funding for the construction of a new two-story, 6,400-square foot building.  The entity was awarded a $1.6 million Community Facilities Loan from USDA Rural Development earlier this year. Read more »

The newly constructed Oglala Sioux Lakota Housing Authority administration building, built with USDA support.

USDA Rural Development and Housing and Urban Development staff celebrated the building dedication of the first Housing Authority in the nation recently.  Started over 50 years ago, the Oglala Sioux Lakota Housing Authority located on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, in South Dakota, hosted officials in honor of the opening of their newly constructed administration building.  Funded through a USDA Rural Development’s Recovery Act Community Facility Direct loan of $3.6 Million, the building stands for the coordinated effort of many agencies. Read more »

Acting USDA Rural Development Deputy Undersecretary Judith Canales (4th from left) and Rural Development State Director Thomas Williams (5th from left) broke ground recently with Mansfield University officials for Phase II of new student housing. Rural Development provided $35 million in Community Facilities loans toward the project which is slated for completion in fall 2013.

Mansfield University may be nestled in a tiny town in northern Pennsylvania, but they are moving ground on Phase II of a very big housing project. USDA Rural Development’s Acting Deputy Under Secretary, Judith Canalas and Pennsylvania Rural Development State Director Thomas Williams joined Mansfield University President Dr. Allan Golden and the Mansfield Auxiliary Corporation recently to break ground for Phase II of new suite style housing at the university that will offer students more space, create jobs in the community and help strengthen the economic vitality of the area. Read more »

The Navajo Nation’s Hardrock Chapter recently celebrated the opening of their new chapter house and multi-purpose center with a day of celebration, speeches, food and dance.

The building will serve as a safe and secure location for after school activities and also as a health center for seniors.

USDA Rural Development funded nearly $300,000 of the $1 million facility. The funds went to the Hardrock Council on Substance Abuse, Inc. who will also use the facility for wellness and counseling services. Read more »