?I?ve been waiting for this all my life,? said Patricia McCarter, as she walked away a winner at the Bermuda Homes For People housing lottery last night.

?For us it?s a feeling I can?t describe, it?s joy, it?s overwhelming it has touched my heart.?

For several winners the joy of walking away with the opportunity to buy one of the 98 cut-price homes at Southside was indescribable. The homes are being sold to lottery winners for just $199,000 ? and unheard of low price for a home in Bermuda.

More than 300 people, mostly single women and their children, crowded into the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium last night with the hope of walking away with a set of keys.

Mrs. McCarter said she can now raise her three younger children together and also care for her brother who is recovering from cancer.

?For people like us it gives us hope,? she said. ?It?s really a good project, people need homes so they can have a sense of security.?

The first winners of the night, senior citizens Rennard and Linda Russell, also realised a lifelong dream of home ownership. They have been renting in the Island?s overheated housing market for as long as they can remember.

Mrs. Russell danced with happiness on the stage when she heard she was a winner.

?It was a shock,? she said. ?Praise and thanks to God, My husband and I are just jubilant, he?s in a wheelchair ? for us, this is just wonderful, it?s a Godsend.?

The bargain homes in Harbourside Village at Ship?s Wharf, St. David?s are being funded from the sales of another 98 identical homes on the site, which will be sold at market prices.

Last night BHP project manager John Gaston, BHC chairman Vance Campbell and Housing Minister Ashfield Devent were all on hand to witness the utter glee of the people the project has so wonderfully affected.

?It can be done again,? Mr. DeVent said. ?But the first thing I have noticed with these projects, is the ?Not In My Backyard? mentality. We have to embrace new people in our neighbourhoods. This is about all of us.?