In this issue:
Story highlights from 2021
RCAC and Pueblo Unido celebrate more than 10 years of impact
It began as a one-time collaboration between Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) and Pueblo Unido Community Development Corporation (Pueblo Unido) to provide safe drinking water in the Eastern Coachella Valley. More than a decade later, it blossomed into a relationship that involved nearly every RCAC program including community and environmental services, housing development and lending. Read more
Touching the country’s heart: 502 Direct Loan Program lends more than $116 million since 2012
Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) embarked on its journey in 2012 to help homebuyers access affordable mortgages through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA RD) 502 Direct Loan Program. After nearly a decade RCAC built a powerhouse partnership network across the rural West and beyond. Read more
How RCAC’s RELieF program helped two small businesses recover from their lost summer
In summer 2020, small business owner Michael Blecha had to take a hard look at his business, Kinnon Entertainment. The concert production industry was poised to have its best year ever just a few months earlier. More than 600 venues booked Kinnon through December—a record-breaking year for Blecha. Read more
Navigating income surveys during COVID-19
Income surveys are tools that funders use to determine a community’s median household income (MHI), which affects eligibility and terms for grant and loan packages. To ensure confidentiality, most funders require a third-party entity like Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) to conduct the survey. Read more
Building Dreams on the Pueblo
It took Bernard Garcia 14 years to see his dream take shape. It was not for lack of trying, but due to invisible barriers that keep him and other Indigenous entrepreneurs who do business on Tribal lands from expanding. In Bernard’s case it was the inability to secure typical financing because he could not borrow against his land. Read more
