A family that just bought a home in Fridley with the help of $10,000 from a first-time home buyer fund will be congratulated Thursday at an event to promote the Federal Home Loan Bank's Urban First-time Homebuyer Fund.

At a luncheon, Nikki and Jesse Roggenbuck, Native Americans from the White Earth tribe, will talk about the home they bought May 11 and Rep. Betty McCollum and officials of Bremer Bank will discuss the fund, designed to assist new homeowners as well as help stimulate the housing market and stabilize communities suffering from foreclosures.

Bremer will receive $250,000 in new, First-time Urban Homebuyer Funds from Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines to help individuals and families in this area take advantage of affordable homeownership opportunities.

In the program, Bremer Bank will distribute awards of up to $10,000 per household to eligible home buyers purchasing foreclosed properties and $5,000 to all other households. The goal is to improve communities hard hit by foreclosures by increasing property values of the vacant homes and those surrounding it, which should stabilize neighborhoods, spur additional economic activity and create permanently affordable homes.