An army of volunteers spent the day working away on five homes in Southeastern Dallas in dire need of repair.
"There's no place like home, no I'm not going anywhere," said Richard Maryman, a 59-year-old Dallas homeowner.
His house was built in 1921, and like so many houses on Frank Street, the front porches are gone, turned into a room with the window boarded off for privacy.
The non-profit Rebuilding Together Dallas made it its goal to renew Maryman's porch.
"It's just a real big deal for them to not be cooped up in their houses all day long," said Bob Moisan, a board member of Rebuilding Together. "That's a big deal for us when we get people who are shut in and have no where else to go. That just breaks my heart because I know that they would much rather be outside."
Mosian, a contractor by day, is volunteering his time and abilities alongside dozens of volunteers to help rebuild five homes in southeastern Dallas. Three of those homes belong to disabled veterans.
"Homeownership is always going to lead to a more stable neighborhood if you've got people who live in those homes for generations then it's always going to be more stable than a renter who is going to be in and out," Mosian said.
Homeowners like Maryman, who served a decade in the USMC and saw the world. But something always brought him back to Southern Dallas, and he wishes more people would follow his lead.
"People of my parents' age, when they pass, their children tend to just leave or sell and that hurts because it's like starting over again," Maryman said.
By mid-afternoon, what used to be a boarded up room started to take shape into a front porch.
"I was taught it takes a village to raise a child," Maryman said. "So, hopefully, with opening up the front there where I can sit on my porch, maybe everybody else will join in on being the village again."