LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Father's Day is less than a week away.
Leading up to Father's Day, THV is highlighting great dads in Arkansas. On Monday, the spotlight is on Monte Payne of Little Rock.
Nine years ago, Payne did not have a home or a job. He rebuilt his life, found work and became determined to have a home for his son, Errin.
Payne has accomplished that goal and said it's all about memories.
"You need to have an experience with your child. You need to make memories with your child. Just working and putting clothes on their back, that won't make any memories," said Payne.
Payne, originally from Los Angeles, moved to Russellville, Arkansas in 1986.
He even served in the National Guard before personal problems took hold and he wound up on the streets.
"I had struggled with addiction, drinking and doing other things. And I found God and it's been going for eight years," Payne said.
He now works as a counselor to help those battling addiction, and supplements his income delivering newspapers.
"And I throw newspapers in Chenal and I see those homes, every single night. And I told myself we are not going to be in an apartment. We're going to get a home," Payne said.
He looked at seven houses over the last month-and-a-half and finally settled on one near UAMS. Payne saw it as a step to strengthen the relationship with his son and be the father he didn't have."
Errin will be a senior at Central High in the fall and values the lessons his dad taught him.
"To be my own self," Errin said. "Not to be somebody else. Learn from my mistakes and help others. He's always there for me."
Errin said one thing he and his dad always do together: work out, challenging each other along the way.
Life lessons, Monte Payne hopes to instill in his son.
"He needs to become a man. He needs to know who he is. In other words, he's a child of God. He needs to have morals and values. Then he needs to try and instill those values on his children," Payne added.