Success Stories Archive

RCAC’s programs and services deliver solutions to complex community needs. Our local presence allows us to develop partnerships with communities to identify needs, set goals, and select the best options to meet those goals. RCAC and our partners provide the tools to create change and growth, but the communities chart their own course. Collaboration, plus community effort will equal community change. How can we help you?

RCAC’s Loan Fund is a financial resource for rural communities. The Loan Fund fills financing gaps and serves in unconventional markets. We offer loans for affordable housing development, environmental infrastructure, community facilities and small businesses in rural locations.

Decent housing, safe drinking water, education, financing, jobs, community facilities, leadership, families are the many facets to RCAC's work.

RCAC expands the knowledge base of the rural public through education and training. Our training expertise is in technical, financial, and administrative issues that affect rural communities. We take great pride in our professional trainer team's capacity and effectiveness. Our trainers maximize audience participation to keep trainings relevant and memorable.

RCAC's news and publications are a compilation of timely news, announcements and accomplishments produced for the rural development world.

Sub-standard housing and poverty are commonplace in low-income rural communities. Many of these communities also face daunting challenges to access safe, clean drinking water and to develop other vital infrastructure. These issues are often overlooked in policy because rural communities lack the resources, training or social networks that are found in urban areas. Learn how you can advocate for the under-served population in the West.

Founded in 1978, RCAC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. For more than 40 years, our dedicated staff and active board, coupled with our key values: leadership, collaboration, commitment, quality and integrity, have helped effect positive change in rural communities across the West. Learn more about who we are and how we operate.

Success Stories

Success stories are a compilation of staff written success stories and case studies that highlight our impact in rural communities.

Thursday, Jul 22, 2021

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.
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Wednesday, Jun 23, 2021

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.
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Wednesday, May 26, 2021

“If we had to do it again …” — Water operators share lessons learned from major disaster recovery

After a community lifts fire evacuation orders and it is safe to return home, the real work begins. When a disaster affects a water system, it could be weeks or months before potable water is widely available. The water system’s long to-do list includes public relations, engineering, finances and even relocating meters.
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Wednesday, Apr 28, 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
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Monday, Mar 15, 2021

Oroville City Elementary School District

RCAC helped the district secure a $255,362 grant under California’s Drinking Water for Schools (DWFS) program to install and retrofit drinking fountains and bottle filling stations on seven campuses.
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Success Stories

How RCAC’s RELieF program helped two small businesses recover from their lost summer

Touching the country’s heart: 502 Direct Loan Program lends more than $116 million since 2012

“If we had to do it again …” — Water operators share lessons learned from major disaster recovery

RCAC and Pueblo Unido celebrate more than 10 years of impact

Oroville City Elementary School District