Patrick Pryor and his grandmother, Leo Gabrial, received the keys to the four bedroom home in northwest Minot during a dedication ceremony on Wednesday. They will live there with his two sons.

Executive Director Roxy Volk said the home was built by Habitat for Humanity in the early 2000s, but was vacated by the original family after it was damaged by the flood in 2011. Habitat for Humanity bought the property back and rebuilt the home in 2014 for a new family who owned the home until they moved out of state in 2023.

Volk said despite a great deal of interest from the community members interested in applying, with the Pryor’s closing on the home Friday, the organization is moving into fundraising mode to fund the construction or rehabilitation of the next Habitat home in Minot. Additionally, Volk stressed the homes are not given away, but are purchased by the applying family that is chosen.

“Habitat holds the mortgage and they pay us back monthly. We don’t walk away from closing with a big check like most sellers do,” Volk said. “I’m getting a lot of people asking, ‘I want to apply.’ In this day and age since COVID and the stress of tariffs, the expenses and costs of building has gone up. The unknown on how much it will cost is even more scary. Unfortunately we don’t have a big piggy bank. We’re blessed with a lot of volunteers, but now it’s fundraising volunteers we’ll need in the near future.”

Families are selected to purchase a Habitat for Humanity home if their annual gross income doesn’t exceed 80% of the Ward County median income for their family size under HUD guidelines. Partner families purchase the home from Habitat for Humanity through a zero-interest loan and are required to complete classes preparing them for home ownership and 250 hours of “sweat equity” per adult in the home for maintenance and repairs.

Volk said Habitat for Humanity homes help people overcome the financial realities of the housing market and high home prices for single family dwellings.

“I got my real estate license almost 40 years ago. I cannot imagine how a young person can even fathom $250,000 to purchase a home,” Volk said.”