Community pitches in.

In September 2011, 91-year-old Frances Major of Royersford, Pennsylvania, hired a contractor to remodel the home in which she has lived since the 1950s. She paid the contractor nearly $80,000 to do the work, which was supposed to take three months to complete. More than a year later, the remodeling was nowhere near completed, and her home was cluttered with construction materials that posed a threat to Frances' safety, as she could not easily get around in her own home.

Frances' daughter, Chaffy Schubert, was angered by the way the contractor took advantage of her mother. "Every one of the projects that we contracted for is not 100% completely, fully done," Schubert said.

Construction materials remained strewn throughout Frances' home and tiles that were laid in the kitchen had not even been secured to the floor. "It's not safe for her to walk on; they're not completely grouted down correctly." Charry said. in fact, the kitchen remained virtually gutted.

Upon learning of Frances' strife, the local community offered its assistance. "The outpouring of the community, friends, neighbors has been amazing," Schubert said.

According to ABC News, the community managed to complete a majority of the remodeling work in just one week, though some items remained undone, including some plumbing.

A similar story came out of Phoenix, Arizona, where a retired woman, Charlie Mae Johnson, was living on a fixed income. She wanted to replace the carpet in her home and was scammed by a man who took her money and never completed the job. According to Johnson, it took her quite a long time to save the $1,200 that the man stole from her.

MyFOX Phoenix reported that, upon hearing the news, several police officers at the Maryvale precinct stepped up to offer their help.

They pitched in to do a mini home makeover for her, which included cleaning the front yard, painting her home, and replacing the carpet.

"Oh my goodness I'm getting a lot of support and it's really awesome, it's really awesome," said Johnson. "I feel better already because I'm getting some things done and I can move on now."

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And for the police officers who helped, the project has been quite rewarding. "You know obviously this is one of the most rewarding parts of the job is to sometimes fill a need for somebody," says Phoenix Police Det. Michelle Dalton.