BROOKSVILLE - Of all the comforts of her new house, the shower seems to please Vietta Whitson the most.

The 66-year-old with extensive arthritis and a bad hip made sure to point out the best feature of the tiled stall when county Commissioner Jeff Stabins came calling Tuesday afternoon.

"Step in there and see that seat," a beaming Whitson told Stabins, who obliged.

The gleaming bathroom and the rest of the two-bedroom home on East Early Street is a far cry from Whitson's old place.

Just a year ago, Whitson and her ailing husband, Gary, sat in a 1948 Sears Roebuck kit home with termite damage so severe the house had literally started to crumble around them.

The Michigan transplants who moved to Brooksville 16 years ago could see daylight through gaps in the bathroom floor.

"I loved it. It was my home. It just got to the point where it had to be retired," said Whitson, a mother of four and grandmother of 15 who lives on Social Security.

Whitson's new house is the first of its kind under the county's Housing Enhancement Loan Program, or HELP.

The program, administered through the Hernando County Housing Authority, uses state housing assistance funds to provide 30-year, no-interest loans to low-income homeowners.

The income guidelines for qualification are $19,800 for one person, $22,600 for two people, $25,450 for a family of three and $28,220 for a family of four

Under the program's original intent, the loans of up to $40,000 per home must be used for repairs made by local builders to improve unsafe conditions. The loans do not have to be paid off until the homeowner sells or is no longer the primary owner.

But the Whitsons' house was in such bad shape, the County Commission in June approved a complete tear-down and rebuild project.

"It took longer for us to put the pieces in the dump truck than it did to knock it down," said Dudley Hampton, owner and president of BJH Construction in Ridge Manor.

The lowest-bidding contractors land the projects. Hampton has bid on several, but the Whitson house is the first for his company.

The complete cost, including demolition of the old home and construction of the 1,029-square-foot block house, came to $83,162. The project put about 20 people, including subcontractors, to work over three months, Hampton said.

"Obviously, I was pleased to get the job," Hampton said.

The house sits on the footprint of the old one on the deep, shady lot. Vietta Whitson, in her first newly constructed home, gushed over the large kitchen, screened porch and Hampton's service.

The homecoming is a little bittersweet.

Gary Whitson, a retired truck driver, died of cancer on Dec. 31. Vietta Whitson and her 18-year-old granddaughter, Shelby, moved in last week.

"It was an answer to a prayer, because when I lost my husband, I didn't know what I was going to do," Whitson told Stabins on Tuesday as she stood under her living room's vaulted ceiling and choked back tears. "The only sad thing is Grandpa's not here to see it."

Stabins pushed for HELP in the summer of 2008 when others in the business community sought to cut impact fees to stimulate the local building industry. Commissioners rejected that idea and approved HELP.

Things got off to a slow start, but work has picked up in the past few months, said Donnie Singer, executive director of the Housing Authority.

He said 11 projects have been completed. Averaging about $25,000, they typically entail extensive roof and floor repairs and replacements.

Another 27 projects are in various stages, ranging from approved applications to near completion, Singer said. Of the $1.8 million in HELP funds, about $1 million has been spent or committed, he said.

"The program has really taken off," he said.

The money comes from the Florida Housing Finance Corp.'s State Housing Initiatives Program, or SHIP.

There won't be any new money dedicated to the program this year, though. The money coming will have to be dedicated to down-payment assistance, Singer said.

"But next year, who knows?" he said.

In the meantime, another tear-down project like Whitson's is in the works.

"We've got to do more of these," Stabins said. "It's a win-win for taxpayers, contractors and obviously the homeowners."

Hampton, who also is a past president of the Hernando County Builders Association, agreed as the two men stood in Whitson's driveway.

"But we can also cut impact fees," Hampton said, smiling.

Stabins slapped his shoulder and laughed.

"I expected that," he said.

Tony Marrero can be reached at tmarrero@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.