Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

Funds for Rural America Promoted by Biden and Vilsack

While visiting a fire station in Pikeville, North Carolina on Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA has begun disbursing the first wave of the $10 billion in guaranteed housing loans provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Pikeville is receiving funds to provide direct operating loans to farmers and ranchers, single family housing loans to rural residents and infrastructure support. Recovery Act funds will help build the community a new larger fire station.

"The Recovery Act is touching every corner of America - from main streets to cul-de-sacs to county roads," Biden said. "With these tough economic times, homeownership is a goal that's out of reach for many people - but the Recovery Act is changing that. By dedicating Recovery Act resources to our rural communities, we will be creating more jobs and making it possible for thousands more families in some of our hardest hit areas to reach that goal of owning a good, safe home."

In Faison, North Carolina, Biden and Vilsack toured the Goshen Medical Center, a community health center receiving Recovery Act funds. So far, approximately $500 million of the Recovery Act's $2 billion have been delivered to health clinics across the nation to assist them in providing services to their communities.

"President Obama recognizes that people in rural communities deserve a safe and secure place to raise their families," said Vilsack. "The funds released today will immediately create job opportunities and make the dream of home ownership a reality for thousands of people in rural America."

The Goshen Medical Center is receiving nearly $636,000. These Recovery Act funds will allow the Center's management to create seven new health center jobs, including two family medicine doctors, two nursing personnel, and three administrative staff.