Repairing a soul with roofing nails

David Perez knew the house two doors down from his on Murphy Court in Freemont, CA, had been rented. But recently the owner, 75-year-old Richard Dubiel, moved back in. The former rental needed repairs, and one day Perez glanced out his window and saw Dubiel trying to re-roof his home one shingle at a time. Perez is no carpenter, but he understands social media, so he snapped a photo of the old man on the roof and posted it on Facebook, hoping readers might come by that Saturday at 9 a.m. and help. The picture was shared more than a thousand times, and when Perez awoke Saturday at 7 a.m., roofing trucks already clogged the cul-de-sac and people "from across the Bay and down the street" were working together on Dubiel's roof. Volunteers provided donated food for roofers, who finished the roof by noon. Dubiel was invited up to drive in the final nail.

                                                                                                                             David Perez, Facebook
Dubiel said he was stunned by everyone's generosity. Afterward, he admitted to KNTV News that the volunteers fixed more than his roof. They repaired his faith in humanity. "I was getting a little bit discouraged," he said. "They repaired my soul."