Rural entrepreneurs, resilient communities, sustainable prosperity
THESE ARE THEIR STORIES
Developing the Developers
Building Local Developers The Develop the Developer Academy (DTDA) is made possible through partnerships with Freddie Mac, a national organization that helps keep housing affordable and stable.…
Turning Point
Price Hardware has been part of Atlanta, Texas since 1946 — a familiar doorway where generations have picked up tools, swapped advice, and supported a long-standing local business. For President and CEO Randal Wilson, that…
A New Lifeline
The Community Infrastructure Team at Communities Unlimited (CU) is increasingly turning to uncommon solutions to help small water and wastewater systems meet urgent needs. Federal programs remain essential — but when…
Growing Forward
In the fall of 2016, just weeks after Kim and Carlos Garcia married, grief and a life-altering decision arrived at the same time. Carlos’s stepfather, who had long run a small mowing route, passed away after a stroke and…
Signaling Change
This piece discusses maternal and infant loss, postpartum health complications, and the obstacles families face when care isn’t accessible. These topics are deeply personal and can be painful to read, especially for those…
From Housing Work to a Lending Lifeline
When Susan Forte walked into a ribbon-cutting event in Pine Bluff, Arkansas earlier in 2025, she wasn’t there to network. She was there to listen. In that moment, the community was opening a modular home — a project…
From Frustration to Forward Motion
By the time the sun hits the edge of the sidewalk in Oak Forest, a neighborhood in southwest Little Rock, Arkansas, the empty lot beside James Allen Jr.’s house doesn’t look like much — just a handful of cleared stumps,…
Keeping Local Food Growing
When the Acadiana Growers Alliance (AGA) was founded in 2015, it grew from a simple belief: that everyone in southern Louisiana should have access to locally grown food — and that small family farms deserve the support they…
Crisis Averted
When Leona Stephens thinks back on the past year, one sound stands out more than any other: the crack of another water main giving way. Deer Run buys its water from the nearby City of Van Buren, but the pressure…
Resilience and Growth
When Tabatha Vail talks about building T&J Cleaning Service, she doesn’t begin with spreadsheets or strategy. She begins with her son — and with a decision to take control of her future. In 2019, Vail lost her oldest…
Tools for Progress
In Selma, Alabama — part of the state’s Black Belt region — the Dallas County Water & Sewer Authority had long struggled with failing infrastructure that too often left sewage spilling into customers’ yards and homes.…
A Coastal Water System Under Pressure
When Orangefield Water Supply Corporation (OFWSC) General Manager Jason Engle talks about the pressure on his community’s water system, he often starts at the beginning. “Our water lines were originally built in 1999 and…
Staying Afloat
Nestled deep in the Davy Crockett National Forest of East Texas, the Nigton-Wakefield Water Supply Corporation (WSC) in Trinity County has had the same mission since 2006: Keep water flowing to rural families who have no…
Developing the Developers
Building Local Developers The Develop the Developer Academy (DTDA) is made possible through partnerships with Freddie Mac, a national organization that helps keep housing affordable and stable.…
Turning Point
Price Hardware has been part of Atlanta, Texas since 1946 — a familiar doorway where generations have picked up tools, swapped advice, and supported a long-standing local business. For President and CEO Randal Wilson, that…
A New Lifeline
The Community Infrastructure Team at Communities Unlimited (CU) is increasingly turning to uncommon solutions to help small water and wastewater systems meet urgent needs. Federal programs remain essential — but when…
Growing Forward
In the fall of 2016, just weeks after Kim and Carlos Garcia married, grief and a life-altering decision arrived at the same time. Carlos’s stepfather, who had long run a small mowing route, passed away after a stroke and…
Signaling Change
This piece discusses maternal and infant loss, postpartum health complications, and the obstacles families face when care isn’t accessible. These topics are deeply personal and can be painful to read, especially for those…
From Housing Work to a Lending Lifeline
When Susan Forte walked into a ribbon-cutting event in Pine Bluff, Arkansas earlier in 2025, she wasn’t there to network. She was there to listen. In that moment, the community was opening a modular home — a project…
From Frustration to Forward Motion
By the time the sun hits the edge of the sidewalk in Oak Forest, a neighborhood in southwest Little Rock, Arkansas, the empty lot beside James Allen Jr.’s house doesn’t look like much — just a handful of cleared stumps,…
Keeping Local Food Growing
When the Acadiana Growers Alliance (AGA) was founded in 2015, it grew from a simple belief: that everyone in southern Louisiana should have access to locally grown food — and that small family farms deserve the support they…
Crisis Averted
When Leona Stephens thinks back on the past year, one sound stands out more than any other: the crack of another water main giving way. Deer Run buys its water from the nearby City of Van Buren, but the pressure…
Resilience and Growth
When Tabatha Vail talks about building T&J Cleaning Service, she doesn’t begin with spreadsheets or strategy. She begins with her son — and with a decision to take control of her future. In 2019, Vail lost her oldest…
Tools for Progress
In Selma, Alabama — part of the state’s Black Belt region — the Dallas County Water & Sewer Authority had long struggled with failing infrastructure that too often left sewage spilling into customers’ yards and homes.…
