![Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager visits with prospective homeowner Linda Diaz at a self-help housing subdivision in Laurel, Delaware. USDA helps thousands of limited-income families each year as they purchase or repair homes.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019113216im_/http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7315113718_55994390dd.jpg)
Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager visits with prospective homeowner Linda Diaz at a self-help housing subdivision in Laurel, Delaware. USDA helps thousands of limited-income families each year as they purchase or repair homes.
Today, June 1, is the first day of National Homeownership Month, which is celebrated each June to highlight the important role housing plays in creating jobs, maintaining viable rural communities and contributing to the economy. Read more »
![Under Secretary Tonsager and Worton farmer Frank Dill inspect a field of soybeans grown with the assistance of the County's spray irrigation system.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019113216im_/http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6102/6266536862_32fae4d5a0.jpg)
Under Secretary Tonsager and Worton farmer Frank Dill inspect a field of soybeans grown with the assistance of the County's spray irrigation system.
Earlier this fall, USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager traveled to Delaware and Maryland to tour two USDA funded wastewater system projects located in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Read more »
Local construction contractors attended a June 22nd ‘work day’ event in the Crescent Shores Subdivision in Lincoln, Delaware to tell the audience of volunteers, homeowners and federal and state officials of how the USDA Rural Development Self-Help Housing Program has kept their businesses alive.
The Self-Help Housing Program was established as a path to homeownership for very-low to low-income families, utilizing a sweat equity model. It is the only federally –funded homeownership program specifically for rural America. Read more »
![Entire group of participants weeds and removes leaves from the adjacent rain garden. Entire group of participants weeds and removes leaves from the adjacent rain garden.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019113216im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5693390344_74a8defdc6.jpg)
Entire group of participants weeds and removes leaves from the adjacent rain garden.
Vegetables aren’t the only thing you’ll see growing at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) People’s Garden in Delaware – partnerships are growing too. To commemorate Earth Day, students from Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) at Delaware State University (DSU), and a representative from the Partnership for Delaware Estuary joined NRCS employees in a clean-up and planting day aimed at restoring this NRCS People’s Garden for the upcoming 2011 growing season. Read more »
![Tanyah Ramos and Caylie Bain scramble eggs in the first step of a healthy fried rice recipe they are learning through the KID CHEF program sponsored by the Food Bank of Delaware. Tanyah Ramos and Caylie Bain scramble eggs in the first step of a healthy fried rice recipe they are learning through the KID CHEF program sponsored by the Food Bank of Delaware.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121019113216im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5558713687_b03ef46502.jpg)
Tanyah Ramos and Caylie Bain scramble eggs in the first step of a healthy fried rice recipe they are learning through the KID CHEF program sponsored by the Food Bank of Delaware.
Cross posted from the Let’s Move! blog:
About a year ago Beverly Jackey, the community nutritionist for the Food Bank of Delaware, came up with a unique way of teaching kids to eat healthy. Jackey believed that children are more willing to try nutritious new foods when they are involved in preparing them. So Jackey and the Food Bank created a program called KID CHEF, which stands for Cooking Healthy Easy Food. Read more »
Building on the President’s commitment to address issues important to rural Americans, Cabinet Secretaries and other top Administration officials are visiting state fairs this summer and fall to discuss ongoing efforts to: Read more »