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Homeless Help

December 23rd, 2014 by flanews

The state’s council on homelessness says there are more than 40,000 people living on the streets at any given time in Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, one man is doing it voluntarily to try and find a solution to the problem.

Tom Rebman is a middle school teacher in Orlando with a family and a job. But today, and for the past month, he’s homeless.  It’s not easy.

“I’m not going to fib you, last night I slept in a hotel bathroom,” said Rebman.

Armed with the bare minimum in his backpack plus a cell phone to document his journey on his Facebook Page “Homeless and Hungry,” Rebman has travelled to Daytona Beach, Sarasota, Ocala, St. Petersburg and the Capitol.  He’s trying to get the message out that the chronic homeless, some with mental problems, need to get off of the streets-jail-streets pipeline.

“Public thinks homeless people are all the vagrants they see on the street, and when I lived in Orlando, I learned “no.” There’s families, there’s couples, and they’re not substance abusers, they’re not bad people, they’re not felons. They’re peple and they’re really suffereing every day,” said Rebman.

He has met with different service organizations in each city.  He’s seen fights and dug through trash.  Sleeping has been no guarantee.

Rebman was able to secure a meeting with Erik Braun, the Director of Florida’s Office of Homelessness.

“Any time we can educate people, help them understand, get rid of misconceptions, it’s a wonderful thing,” said Braun.

While Rebman won’t be on the streets forever, he says he hopes his small amount of time living homeless pays off for the thousands of people struggling daily. The Department of Children and Families has invited Tom Rebman back in February to address the state’s council on homelessness.

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