Richard and mary ann's story

After celebrating 35 years of helping to bring homes, communities and hope to the Grand Forks area neighborhoods, we were on a mission to locate our partner families and hear their personal story of homeownership through our organization. Richard and Mary Ann recently shared their heartwarming journey on their forever home, which is one of sweet moments and milestones. This upcoming June will mark 27 years in their Habitat home, with many more to come!  

​It was spring of 1997.  The flood waters receded and we could finally go back to our homes.  We were renting a one bedroom house that really wasn’t big enough for our growing family.  My 2 year old had a makeshift bedroom in a hallway and I was 7 months pregnant with my second child.  My husband was working 2 jobs, besides helping with cleaning out our water-filled basement. 

The berms were piled high with garbage and family memories.  I noticed a large stack of somewhat dry newspapers among my neighbors pile.  I started reading the one on top and the first thing I saw was a very tiny ad for applications for homes from Habitat for Humanity.  I immediately ran into the house to start my application. 

Out of all the applicants, we were chosen to get a house.  I remember screaming with joy when we found out we were picked.  My son was born in June, and 3 days later I was helping to raise the walls for our new bedroom.  Hundreds of volunteers came from small towns to help build our house.  Some from other states!  It was an amazing outpouring of love.  We worked really hard to make everything perfect for our new lives.  When the house was ready to move into, a priest blessed our house, and Habitat for Humanity gifted us a tree for our back yard.  We finally had a real home!

Now, its 2024, and we have had countless memories and wonderful moments shared here.  After finishing off the basement, we started gardening and grew lots of good foods that we shared with our neighbors.  We built a new garage and kept the yard and house looking nice.  Recently, we put new shingles on the roof.  Our next plans are repainting and sprucing up the interiors.  One wall in my house has years of marks from keeping track of how fast my children grew.  Now my grandchildren’s heights are being recorded there too. Our house has been paid off, and we are thrilled to own a home in the historic Riverside neighborhood. Thank you to Habitat for making our dream of home ownership a reality and for truly giving us the most wonderful gift.  

We never thought we would own our own home. We never thought we could give our children such a safe place to grow up. We have made our home a comfortable place that we don't ever want to leave. Thank you, a thousand times, THANK YOU!!

If you are a previous Red River Valley Habitat for Humanity homeowner, we would love to hear from you! Please e-mail [email protected] or call us at: 1-701-772-4418.