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 35 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, Jul 30, 2019

Working together to preserve affordable housing

Kalispell, Montana – By many accounts, this lush, pastoral expanse of the United States may be the country’s most stunning. Serene, picturesque Flathead Lake to the south and Glacier National Park to the north attracts tourists year-round, such that Flathead County is expanding in both population and labor force. But all of this growth has unfortunately not translated into more homes for this burgeoning population.
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Thursday, Jun 20, 2019

Hoopa Valley Tribe helps community access healthy food

Hoopa Valley, Calif. – Hoopa Valley residents live near pastoral landscapes, rough rivers, and dense forests teeming with an abundance of fish and game. Yet, the abundance underscores the fact that healthy food scarcity exists in places we might not expect. In Hoopa Valley for instance, residents struggled to find wholesome food.
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Thursday, Jun 13, 2019

A self-help participant’s success story

After living in Grand County, Utah for three years, my family and I made the official move to Moab, Utah in 2015. Now, it was a great challenge. We took weeks, actually months, trying to secure housing.
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Friday, May 31, 2019

The Puff Factory ribbon-cutting and grand opening

In May, as Jacqueline Alexander welcomed dozens of visitors to The Puff Factory ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony, her friend Adrienne Nelson lauded Alexander’s perseverance during the last three years, when it seemed the various obstacles she faced would prevent her from success.
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Jones Valley’s special day

Jones Valley, Calif. – In 2013, John Van den Bergh, who was then the Fall River Valley Community Services District general manager, got a call from a California congressman who was both discouraged and hopeful about a seemingly insoluble problem in his district.
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Success Stories

Working together to preserve affordable housing

Hoopa Valley Tribe helps community access healthy food

A self-help participant’s success story

The Puff Factory ribbon-cutting and grand opening

Jones Valley’s special day