The porch had been sagging for three winters before James Okafor showed up with a truck full of lumber.
James is a volunteer firefighter in Columbus, Ohio. On the days he is not on call, you will find him on the east side, where a lot of the houses are old and a lot of the people in them are older still.
It started with one neighbor and a set of stairs she could no longer safely climb. Word traveled. Now a small crew of volunteers follows his lead most weekends, rebuilding porches, ramps, and railings for residents who would otherwise be trapped inside their own homes.
He keeps no list of who he has helped. "You just fix what is in front of you," he says. There is always something in front of him.