Alan Stephens

Aesthetically the change is obvious and pleasing, but what hides inside the walls and under the ground is what is making the big difference at Kachina Apartments in Casa Grande, Arizona. The 96-unit senior complex recently underwent a major rehabilitation that not only renovated the individual units...

Betty and Kee Acothley live miles off the beaten track in the former Bennett Freeze area on the Navajo Nation. Kee once tended thousands of head of sheep at the remote sheep camp he and his wife Betty call home. Now, at 80, he keeps only around 70 head. He and Betty, 79, follow the sheep on foot...

“La esperanza nunca debe atrasarse.” “Hope should never be deferred.” For years the Pinal Hispanic Council (PHC) had to defer building a new behavioral health clinic in Eloy, Arizona. They couldn’t afford to fund it.

Rain poured through the roof of the old Black Canyon, Arizona, fire station, making the floor slippery and rusting the tin that covered the roof. Nonetheless, the one ambulance and fire truck that would fit into the aging metal shed still faired better than the other five vehicles parked outside...

The Apache people were hunters and gatherers. Their food offered much variety…wild herbs, fruit, berries, wild game and pinto beans. They also relied on hunting, mainly wild turkeys, rabbits, deer, bears, and buffalo. Once settled into villages, they began to grow their own food, primarily corn and...

Owning a home in the same area where he built his business is a win-win for new homeowner Greg Kane. In early June 2011, Kane purchased his studio condominium at Riverbend, Colorado, through the help of US Bank Home Mortgage and the USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program...

Few places in the U.S. are as secluded as Supai. Nestled in a side canyon of the Grand Canyon, it has the distinction of being the most remote community in the lower 48 states. The only way in or out is to walk, ride a mule, or take a helicopter.

Somerton, Arizona, is a great example of how USDA Rural Development programs can help bolster a small rural community by touching so many aspects of not only the rural economy but the diverse and vibrant rural people who make it work.

St. Johns is a small community in Apache County, Arizona, close to the New Mexico border. Originally called El Vadito—little river crossing—St. Johns has found water to be an issue for their growth and development lately.

In the 14 th century the Hisat’sinom people, ancestors of the Hopis, found themselves on the sandy slopes of a rich flood plain while on their migration north. This beautiful location in the Little Colorado River Valley was so compelling that the people stayed and established a community they called...