Kansas City, Kan. ? Beatrice Lee once stood in front of a known drug house with bullhorn in hand to demand the thugs inside retreat from her Kansas City, Kan., neighborhood.

Lee, an 80-year-old woman, is no fool. She knew the only way to re-energize her beloved Douglass-Sumner neighborhood was to kick-start the change herself.

On Tuesday she saw the fruit of her labor. And was it ever sweet.

Lee stood alongside Gov. Sam Brownback and city and community leaders as they celebrated the first new homes to be built in the neighborhood in 50 years. Two homes already have for-sale signs, and the group broke ground on four others.

“We are recognizing the rebirth of a neighborhood,” said Julie Porter, executive director of the Greater Kansas City Local Initiatives Support Corp. “Next year we hope to see new neighbors moving in and more houses going up because this is just the beginning.”

The new houses are within walking distance of public transit, schools and downtown jobs. The structures, which have front porches and rear-entry garages much like the existing neighborhood, are expected to sell for $130,000 to $140,000.

The neighborhood is roughly framed between 7th and 10th streets on the east and west and Parallel Parkway and Washington Boulevard on the north and south.

For her part, Lee is quick to note that it takes more than one person to revitalize the neighborhood.

The construction comes thanks to a public-private partnership. The four homes about to be built will be paid for with a $1.2 million HUD appropriation, sponsored by Brownback when he was a U.S. senator representing Kansas. The two existing homes were a partnership between Community Housing of Wyandotte County Inc., a community development corporation, and Wyandotte County’s Unified Government.

The Greater Kansas City Local Initiatives Support Corp. helped secure the funding as part of its Neighborhoods Now initiative to eliminate blight and restore urban core communities. Community Housing of Wyandotte County, the project contractor, will help guide potential homeowners to secure loans and remain financially stable for the long haul.

Leaders admit that it could be difficult to find homeowners to qualify for loans given the economy, but the non-profit agencies have promised to help suitable buyers as much as possible.

Unified Government Mayor Pro Tem John Mendez pointed out that the neighborhood sits north of downtown. Its revitalization is critical to improving the entire city, but especially the downtown.

The urban core redevelopment has been much anticipated in Wyandotte County, where the hub of activity is usually in the west.

Brownback said it was good to see the attention within the urban core.

“The restoration of the Douglass-Sumner neighborhood will not only enhance its historical significance but will help the entire community thrive,” Brownback said.

Lee’s crusade started decades ago.

She remembers when the Douglass-Sumner neighborhood was thriving. Families walked to the grocery store. Children walked to schools. People of faith walked to churches. Homeowners didn’t need to trek to western Wyandotte County to shop and have lunch.

Slowly Lee watched her neighbors, friends and even her own children move out. They were in search of a new start in a safer community.

It was easy to see why. As families moved out, drug dealers and gang leaders slipped in. Academic scores dropped. Infrastructure crumbled.

Lee never left. She became the president of the neighborhood association and quietly worked for change. She wrote letters, called politicians and politely prodded the movers and shakers to do something.

Lee targeted the drug dealers. She and other neighborhood leaders stood outside the drug houses and made a bold but basic demand.

“I told them they had to leave,” she said matter-of-factly.

Police officers from the community policing unit did their part, as did church leaders and others.

If drug dealers resisted the move, Lee went to the city and urged them to enforce code violations. Lee was strategic. She knew drug dealers either couldn’t afford or didn’t want to sink money into fixing a roof.

After that the city moved in and began tearing down dilapidated houses. Vacant lots accounted for about 50 percent of the Douglass-Sumner neighborhood. It’s a fact that might disturb some, but not Lee.

“If they had not torn these houses down, we would not be here today,” she said.

The neighborhood is not devoid of crime, and code violations remain. But Lee has seen significant changes. Schools have improved, and violent crime statistics dropped drastically, she and others said.

And Lee and others pledge that the six houses are just the beginning. She’s set her sights on a grocery store and much more.

The idea that there might once again be children playing in front yards and adults making conversation on porches nearly brought Lee to tears.

“I’m so full right now,” she said. “I’m full of joy and full of happiness.”