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.

Tuesday, Sep 21, 2021

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.
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Translating solid waste outreach and GIS mapping materials into Alaskan Indigenous language

My indigenous – Alaskan Yup’ik name is Arnariaq. My government name is Evelyn Agnus, and I come from a family as the second oldest of 10 siblings. I grew up in a southwestern community of Chefornak, Alaska during the winter months, and my family migrates to Umkumiut, Alaska during the summers for subsistence.
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Monday, Aug 23, 2021

Lantana Homes project given new life after lying dormant for more than a decade

Known for its more than 400 wineries, Sonoma County often conjures images of the California dream. The area, along with neighboring Napa County, is informally referred to as wine country and often seen as a playground for the affluent. The reality on the ground is quite different.
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Navigating income surveys during COVID-19

By Claire Miller Income surveys are tools that funders use to determine a community’s median household income (MHI), which affects . . .
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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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Success Stories

Building dreams on the Pueblo

Translating solid waste outreach and GIS mapping materials into Alaskan Indigenous language

Lantana Homes project given new life after lying dormant for more than a decade

Navigating income surveys during COVID-19

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