January 2, 2017
One Marshall woman received the present "of a lifetime" this week when the City of Marshall and East Texas Baptist University teamed up to renovate her home free of charge.
Constance Steadman, who inherited a home on Dogan Street in Marshall from her mother, needed to make repairs on the home to make it livable but could not afford the cost of the renovations, she said.
"I applied and went on the waiting list for a program through the city of Marshall that helps you but they said it would probably be 2036 before they would get to me," Steadman said Friday. "Then they called and said ETBU was partnering with them for a new program so I signed up and was the first person on the list."
That was earlier this year and Steadman said not long after, she got a call asking if she would like the renovations on her home to begin in January of 2017.
"I told them I'd like to do it now, if I could so I could go ahead and get moved in," she said. "It only took them about four weeks to do all of the work and I've been moving stuff in yesterday and today."
Her new home was just in time for Christmas, she said.
"I'm so blessed and so pleased," Steadman said of her newly renovated one bedroom home in south Marshall. "This is the Christmas present of a lifetime. I'm so excited and so grateful."
Steadman said the renovation of her home, made possible by the city's Community Block Development Grant and ETBU's new Neighborhood Renewal Initiative, couldn't have come at a better time.
"I got this house from my mom and then my son was in a bad car wreck and was in a coma all about the time I was trying to get the house fixed," Steadman said. "It was a very stressful time but they started fixing my house through this program and I didn't have to pay anything for it and now my son is doing good."
Steadman said she stayed in motels until the renovation was complete and is now looking forward to finishing moving in all of her things.
"The Christmas blessing continues," ETBU President Blair Blackburn said Friday. "Sam Baxter, a local business and community leader, is donating a stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, couch, end table, lamp and dining table for Ms. Steadman."
Blackburn said Baxter has often extended his generosity to help those in the community.
"Sam is one of Marshall's most generous and compassionate community leaders," Blackburn said Friday. "He has a heart for helping people in need. Sam has such a giving servant spirit. A St. Nick model in his own right."
For sure, Steadman is counting her blessings this Christmas.
"I will remember this Christmas for the rest of my life," she said.
The city of Marshall and ETBU's neighborhood improvement initiatives are led by the city's Director of Planning and Development Wes Morrison and ETBU's Construction Department led by Director Cameron Burger.
"The city and ETBU are utilizing Community Block Development Grant funding for these home improvement remodels," Blackburn said. "Our students are working alongside these servant leaders to help others improve their living conditions. Step by step, house by house ETBU staff and students are making a difference in the lives of people in our community."
ETBU is expected to begin its first new home construction as part of its Neighborhood Renewal Initiative this spring.
Other groups have also signed on to help with the project, including the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission and the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation which provided $15,000 to secure tools and equipment for the home restoration program, Blackburn said.
Lowe's in Marshall signed on to offer the program discounted building materials.