Partners for Rural Transformation

The Partners for Rural Transformation (PRT) recently released its annual Year in Review, reflecting on 2025 and looking forward to what the Partnership will accomplish in the new year.

In 2025, across our Partners, we provided more than $809 million in loans to rural communities nationwide, and nearly 75 percent of all loans went to low-income borrowers. This included more than $290 million into persistent poverty communities that face discrimination, extractive economies, and chronic disinvestment.

Learn more here: https://www.ruraltransformation.org/blog/prt-releases-2025-a-year-in-review/

Our partner, Communities Unlimited, is looking for a new Director of Community Sustainability! See the link in the comments for more information.

We looking for our new Director Of Community Sustainability!

The Community Sustainability program brings CU’s services together at the community level. The team works directly with local leaders to conduct community assessments, develop leadership capacity, and design practical strategies that address infrastructure, entrepreneurship, housing, broadband, and food access.

This work currently supports nearly 100 communities, with additional communities preparing to engage.

If you're passionate about rural communities and want to contribute to their success, take a look to see if we're a fit!

Our partner, Jim King, CEO of Fahe, recently spoke at the Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), where he emphasized the critical role of storytelling and partnerships in addressing the housing crisis—echoing the call to action behind Fahe’s Housing Can’t Wait campaign.

In Appalachia, funding doesn’t come easily. Communities are spread out, incomes are lower, and resources are limited.

Last week at NAHRO, Fahe CEO Jim King spoke about what it takes to build housing where the math doesn’t work on its own. Fahe’s work focuses on staying with local partners over time and making sure funding and programs actually work together so homes can get built.

Decades of underbuilding and disinvestment have left families without safe, affordable homes. If we can make housing work in places where the odds are stacked against it, we can build models that work anywhere.

Read more from Jim’s remarks and reflections here:
👉 https://fahe.org/fahe-at-nahro-executive-leadership-convening/