PORT ARTHUR — Viola Smith is one tough 84-year-old. A victim of Hurricane Rita, the woman known to many as Nanna Precious recently celebrated the completion of repairs to her Port Arthur home.

Two years after Rita overpowered the humble home on Shirley Street, Smith was able to once again sleep in her bedroom and cook in her kitchen thanks to the generosity of faith-based groups from across the nation.

“I thank God for my little house and for Him letting me know that people love me,” said the frail, but empowered woman. “He saw my need and sent all these people to help me.”

Smith is just one of the many residents who has been helped by the Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization (SETIO). Organized after Hurricane Rita, the group of more than 20 local religious organizations and recovery programs joined together to bring assistance to families who were displaced or made homeless by the storm, like Smith.

“I wish you could’ve seen this house prior to the start of the construction,” said Loye Kemp, construction supervisor for SETIO. “It was destroyed by the storm and termites.”

As soon as SETIO was able, construction began on Smith’s house by volunteers, some who came from as far away as North Carolina and Colorado.

“There was just one good group after another, but since the storm we’ve seen the hand of God,” The Rev. Buddy Blake, a SETIO executive committee member, said. “People came from far and wide. The body of Christ came together despite black and white and rich and poor.”

Smith said she had a hard time not getting down on her hands and knees to help the volunteers who were working on her house.

“I would get up every morning at 6 a.m. and come over here to help,” she said. “I would hug them and thank them but it wasn’t nobody but the Lord. I prayed every night and I will serve Him the rest of my days.”

Kemp said it is people like Smith that keep the volunteers coming back to help and that without the volunteers, SETIO would not have been able to do the 1,400 remodels that have taken place in the past two years.

“The volunteers are the backbone of our organization,” he said. “It’s a blessing to be able to help the community of people in need.”

According to SETIO records, there are still 15,000 families in Southeast Texas who are waiting for assistance to rebuild their homes. The recent allocation of $500 million in federal funds will help the organization, but also will be difficult to use.

“The monies are hard to use because there are limits and rules,” Joe Higgs, SETIO organizer, said. “There are a lot of people suffering and we need to be able to work better. It is an awesome responsibility to help those people who still believe that others will come to help them.”