USDA https://www.usda.gov is investing $52 million in 45 projects through the “Community Facilities Direct Loan Program”. This will benefit nearly 200,000 rural residents in 16 states, but the projects must be in rural areas with a population of 20,000 or less.
More than 100 types of projects are eligible for funding under USDA’s Community Facilities program. The types of projects eligible for funding under the program include municipalities, public bodies, nonprofit organizations, and federally recognized Native American tribes.
The projects selected are in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
For example HOPE Family Health in Westmoreland Tennessee offering medical, behavioral health, pharmacy, and dental services, will use a $1 million loan to purchase equipment to combat the opioid crisis and to purchase a building to house the health center
In addition, the Trinidad Area Health Association in Colorado will use a $25.7 million loan to renovate and expand the Mount San Raphael Hospital. The association will purchase medical equipment and also expand the imaging department. The association will also construct a 14 bed medical and surgical unit along with a new emergency department with ten treatment spaces, and a central utilities plant.
USDA plans to make additional funding announcements in the coming weeks. Congress appropriated $2.8 billion for Community Facilities direct loans and grants in FY 2019.
Go to https://rd.usda.gov/programs-services/community-facilities-direct-loan-grant-program for more information on the “Community Facilities Direct Loan Program”. For assistance, go to https://rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices.