For Deirdre Hines, Wednesday was a dream come true.

That’s because she and others were celebrating a groundbreaking for the new house she bought soon to be built. The event was on Wednesday afternoon at 1229 Sixth St. near downtown Port Arthur.

“I have a family,” she said. “I’m also a grandmother and this is something (the new house) to leave them. Everybody is telling me, ‘This is your house!’”

Hines was able to buy the house from a program designed to increase home ownership by assisting the homeowner with their down payment, according to a press release from Legacy Community Development Corporation.

In May 2016, Port Arthur residents approved an affordable housing ballot proposition that allows the Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation funds to be used to implement an affordable housing program in the area of Fifth St. to Eighth St. from Atlanta Ave. to Nashville Ave. Legacy is doing the program in conjunction with the PAEDC and the city of Port Arthur.

Hines said she had to go through a yearlong program to rebuild her credit in counseling sessions where she learned to “budget, save and sacrifice.”

She added that it was frustrating at times because she thought she was close to owning the home only to find she had to wait longer.

Her housing counselor, Margaret Marsh, told her God had a blessing with her name on it and she would have her home before the new year.

Hines admitted when she was younger she was lazy about paying debts and didn’t think it was all that important. She had to start over because she knew with her credit she couldn’t get a home. She was unable to buy a car off of a car lot either.

“I looked at owner finance, but they wanted $200,000 down,” she said.

One day, she went to the Port Arthur City Hall to find if any existing homes the city had were for sale. She found out about the PAEDC/Legacy program and applied. She got through the application process quickly and started classes in Houston.

She works at the Bob Bowers Civic Center and her boss, Adam Saunders, encouraged her.

“Don’t miss your blessing. You’re a walking testimony. You can do it,” he would tell her.

Vivian Ballou, executive director of Legacy, said 30 houses will be built in downtown Port Arthur under the program. She believes the homes will add value to the once dormant community.

“There hasn’t been a project this big in years on this side of Port Arthur,” she said.

She lauded Floyd Batiste, executive director of the PAEDC, for having the vision to realize commercial development downtown also needs rooftops.

Legacy is a nonprofit organization that specializes in the development of affordable housing and the provision or financial counseling, according to their website.

Perspective homeowners are put through a rigorous process, Ballou said.

Several present and past participants also attended the groundbreaking.

“This is a worthy project that will see returns and returns,” she said.

Ballou said her mother helped the homeless when she was growing up in Port Arthur and she feels this is fulfilling her legacy.

City Manager Brian McDougal said the project will help rebuild downtown.

Mayor Derrick Freeman said it is an exciting time in Port Arthur and he was excited to see rooftops going up because that means buying power.

He hopes young people will make a commitment, come back home, and rebuild downtown.

“We have a great school district and a great superintendent (Mark Porterie),” he said.

Ingrid West-Holmes, president of the board of directors of the Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation, said she was grateful to Batiste for his work and this was one of the best projects Port Arthur has seen in a very long time.

“We’ll live it up in downtown Port Arthur,” she said.

Construction on the home should start in early 2017.

David Ball: 409-721-2427