Here is one of the first media coverages before he embarked on his..... journey: http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/orange-county-teacher-goes-homeless-30-days-raise-/ngX4G/
Now you know I can't post everything or this would literally be about 127 pages long, give or take 22 pages.
If you could have heard the very audible sigh that just escaped my lips, you would know just how much of a task this is going to be to write. Even though, like I said in the video, I'm not necessarily afraid of anything about my life coming out in the form of retaliation, because I'm an open book, I do, however, have my personal safety to be concerned with since the person I am going to be talking about knows as good as where I am currently staying. I cannot 100% contract or guarantee that I know for a fact I am safe. I don't know him well; obviously not anywhere near as well as I thought I did. Just the little bit that I DID feel I knew went high-tailing it down Interstate-4 on a giant purple elephant the day he made a video and posted it on his Facebook page that, at the time, had over 5,500 followers, where he bashed a handful of people that happened to include myself.
Not just bashed, said my whole name, just as it is on Facebook, in slow, loud, and clear pronunciation, just in case anyone was hard of hearing, accused me of lying about things which I did not lie about, and pretty much defamed my character and falsely accused me of, ironically, lying about him. He smeared the names of 3 other people that I am friends with, as well. Three out of the four of us are homeless. His Facebook page name? HOMELESS AND HUNGRY. His campaign? "Raising awareness of the issues with homelessness." It no longer says it on the website, since as of August 21, 2014, someone else has been made an "editor" or co-admin of the page (Tom still runs it), but from June 20 - August 21, 2014, it explained that Thomas Francis Rebman was a middle school teacher in Orange County, Florida, who would be "going homeless" for 30 days in order to raise awareness for homeless people. His goal was supposedly to experience firsthand what it is like to be completely homeless for 30 days, taking with him only his cell phone and cell phone charger, so that he could document his "adventures" every day and post them on FB, his ID, and the clothes on his back. Oh, and his cigarettes, because as he documents with his posts and videos throughout his entire journey, if you decide to go through them, they were extremely important.
I would like to make it clear right now that I was a HUGE supporter from BEFORE day one. My encouraging comments are everywhere throughout the beginning of his journey, unless he has taken those down, too. I was encouraging his campaign before he even left his house. I thought the idea of someone purposely going homeless was a little nutty, but I was enthusiastic about the possibility that perhaps he would learn a lot about resources, be able to share them, and by through sharing his experience, disparage some of the stereotypes about homeless people (i.e. they are all active drug addicts/alcoholics/lazy, etc). Some of that has been accomplished. The negativity that began to show itself, however, and the obvious need for him to be in control of everything at all times, worked against him and, in my humble opinion and in my eyes, shattered his campaign... and his integrity. To me, he is the epitome of narcissism. Again, just my opinion.
You can find most of his videos either on the Facebook page, which I link above as HOMELESS AND HUNGRY, or on his YouTube channel, at THOMAS REBMAN. The only videos that are missing from his YouTube channel and page are the ones in which he verbally bashed many of us. I have them on my computer. If you want them, all you have to do is ask. Actually, I may post one in particular at the end of this blog. You will also find his "Summit" video amongst the top listed on his YouTube channel, where he reported on the page that there was this great, amazing turnout to. He estimated 60-80 people. In the video, it looks to be more around 30 to me, personally, but hey.. I might not be able to count.
What did strike me is the fact that a homeless guy -a distraught homeless guy, at that- apparently attended the Summit, and Tom addresses him, has him come to the front to sit down, and then pretty much pretends that he never said anything. The questions and answers are also missing, which I found interesting, unless they are posted somewhere and I just don't see them or didn't catch it. I will be completely honest here and say I did NOT watch the entire over-hour-long Summit video and only skimmed through it, because I really don't have that much time to waste. I was actually supposed to attend, but it fell on a day that I was not even in Central Florida, and to be honest, I'm rather glad now.
Moving on.
He also has a fundraising campaign set up at Orlando Teacher Goes Homeless for 30 Days! which it looks like was ended on August 21, 2014. Please note that is the same date that the FB page got turned over to someone else, because Tom couldn't handle it anymore.
So, let's officially meet Mr. Rebman, shall we?
His own words: "My name is Tom and I am a Teacher in a Title 1 Middle School in Orlando, Florida. I am going voluntarily homeless for 30 days so that my students can see how difficult it is being without shelter and food. I will start my journey with nothing but my ID card and the clothes on my back. I do not know what will happen, where I will eat or sleep, we will al find out together. Each day I will be posting a video and a blog describing the days events. I will be interacting with my students and others on my Facebook page "Hungry and Homeless". I am doing this to keep my students reading and writing during the summer. I intend to remain homeless for 30 days. I am going to use only legal government services (Shelters, Food Pantries etc) to live. I will be taking candid video to show how homeless people are viewed and treated. I will talk to memebers of our community that are homeless and live as a part of their culture. I will help my students analyze the problems they face and try and help come up with solutions to these problems.
I need your support to get the word out. I want to reach as many people as possible with this message and at the same time raise money so that my students can have a better chance in their life. Forty percent of the money raised will be used to buy iPads for Orange County Public Schools Intensive Reading Students. Twenty five percent will be given to Second Harvest Food Bank, 25% will be given to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, and the last 10% to buy a vehicle for Ministry of Hope Food Pantry. Our goal is $100,000 but the sky is the limit!!!" [as taken from the Fundrazr story page at the link above, as well as what was previously posted on the Homeless and Hungry FB page.]
He's decorated. He was a teacher (note the word was, please). Blah, blah, blah. Squirrel.
A very little bit about me, because of the role I end up playing in this: I am what is called "essentially homeless." Basically meaning that I am homeless, but at the moment I don't have to sleep outside on the cold, hard ground, like most of Central Florida's homeless population. Some essentially homeless are "permanent" residents at shelters, while others like myself find or have a place to sleep that is temporary. I have a twin mattress on the floor in the foyer of a friend's house, located right by the front door.
Now that I've posted a horrible picture and videos of myself, let's really get going. At least no one can call me a liar when I say I'm exhausted, because it's pretty evident in what I've posted!
Tom started out his journey credibly enough. I can call him Tom, because I've met him, talked to him in person twice, and had several private online message conversations with him. We were friends or, in his words about me, so I thought. His videos were interesting. His insights were great. He was mentioning resources, showing people the false stereotypes. I think the first red flag for me was when he announced that he'd been accepted into some type of long-term, 1-year residential shelter program. It was already striking nerves that he was posing as a homeless man, no matter what the reason he was giving; but when he announced that he was going to be taking up shelter space, far more people began to ask questions, myself included. We weren't being demeaning, giving him a hard time, calling names, using profanity, or anything of the sort. We were simply asking questions. We were questioning how he got into a space so quick and if it were that easy to do so, why weren't more homeless people off the streets. We were questioning how this would help him experience homelessness, the true experience, if after only a few days on the actual streets, he was ready to take a bed that an actual homeless person might need. We were questioning whether or not he had to lie on the application in order to retrieve the spot, because case in point, he technically really wasn't homeless, was he? We were questioning a lot of things, mainly because of his original mission statement, and also because he had said that he would never, under any circumstances, take anything away from someone who was actually homeless. Unfortunately, you won't find any of those comments, questions, or otherwise, because no sooner had we asked them, than they were perceived as "negative" to the page and deleted. That was red flag #2. Why delete questions and comments if you have nothing to hide?
Soon after, he claimed to have given his spot at the shelter to someone who really needed it, but then he posted pictures of the inside of the shelter the following night, where even though it didn't show their faces, doesn't it bother anyone that he is going around taking pictures of actual homeless people without them realizing it? While they are sleeping? He made a statement saying something to the effect of [see, I'm not taking anything away from anyone who needs it, it isn't full]. I'm pretty sure I saw only like 2 empty beds in that short segment and he could have been sleeping in one of them for all I know.
Things calmed down, people seemed appeased, and he made some good posts. He got very defensive in a few, explaining how trying to get shelter is part of the homeless experience. I really won't talk about that much. He did some good things, brought awareness, so forth and so on. It can all be seen on the page.
During all this time, we had been messaging back and forth. Our very first couple of message exchanges were basically me introducing myself, telling him part of my story, us becoming "friends" and him telling me, because he's so passionate about helping the homeless and those in need, that after his 30 days were done and over with, he would not only share my Fundrazr campaign, but would support it, as well. Looking back at that conversation, knowing what I do now and knowing the things he said during the following weeks, I'm fairly certain that the only reason he made that promise is because he really thought he was going to be rich, or at the very least have gotten a lot more money from the campaign than he actually did. I reserve the right to hold that opinion based on our interactions and his subsequent lack of following through. As I stated in one of the videos above, this is not a bitter diatribe to Thomas Francis Rebman because I'm a scorned little girl who didn't get what she wanted at the candy store. It's about more than just me.
I will say this, however. YES, I was hurt when I realized I'd trusted someone only to find out he wasn't even the person I thought he was. You can't go through an experience like this and remain completely unscathed. But, I seek no revenge. Not for that; not for me. I seek justice because he is a fake, a liar, someone who has hurt AND exploited more than just me, and does not have the right to use the misfortune of others for his personal gain. Plain and simple.
Even with the red flags, I still agreed to sit down and do a short interview with him, because he had been trying so hard to get me to meet with him. He spent most of his homeless experience in downtown Orlando, which really isn't all that far from where I am staying, but on the city bus, it takes about 2 hours. He had started to donate plasma for $50 a pop, because panhandling wasn't making much and he had already decided he wouldn't go to the first real job opportunity he was given because he was so beaten down already. (Welcome to a real homeless person's life, bro!)
In my mind, because even after all that I have been through in my life, I still make the conscious decision to see the best in everyone and trust way too easily.
This has been a life-changing lesson in trust.
Here is the interview I allowed him to do the first time he came to the vicinity of where I live. I met him outside the gate, near a bus stop, and we sat on the sidewalk in front of the school bus yard, amid the flying insects and chatted for a while.
This was posted on August 2, 2014. Before that meeting, he had mentioned or asked to meet me 6 times already. The first couple of times I said to come if he was on this side of town, but he never made it for one reason or another. Then I was busy during other times. The day after this was made, he instant messaged on FB me and asked me if I was up and "atum" yet at 7-something in the morning. I didn't respond until after noon, letting him know I had worked late (graveyard), and he messaged me at 1 p.m. letting me know he was outside the gate to where I am staying.
This was a HUGE red flag for me that I had no choice but to pay attention to! Yes, I still have the instant messages to prove this happened. We had just met the day before, why would he be here again? I was already uncomfortable before going outside to meet him, and as time passed and the more he talked, the more awkward it was. Every second that went by, I was learning more about him; his demeanor, what he really thought of people, what his real objectives were, the delusional state his mind was in, and that he was "smitten" by me. Yes... smitten. I gave quite a long pause to that, unsure how to respond. So, in my comedic defensive manner, which is all I have left sometimes in situations like that, I laughed it away, and away it went - for the moment, anyway. By the end of our conversation, the person that walked away from me to get back on a bus was NOT the person I thought I knew or had talked to the previous day. I suddenly felt like I was floating on an air bubble. One that was going to burst; I just didn't know when or how.
Our conversation that day. Where do I begin? I suppose I will start off with the fact that right off the bat he referred to my best friend and her husband, the people who kindly let me sleep on their floor right now, as my "captors." This divulged from several factors, I believe. One being that it was extremely hot out that day, as it happens to be during the Florida summer afternoons, and he could not come inside. Even if the house were mine, I'm not sure I would have let an unannounced, uninvited visitor with whom I'd only met once inside, quite honestly. He asked me, "Do they know whom I am? Do they know I am homeless?", to which I replied, "He is the only one home, and yes, he knows you are pretending to be homeless." The word pretending did not seem to phase him one bit, as he went on about how my "captors" would let a "homeless guy" sit outside in the heat.
To this day I regret my next action of letting him sit in the shade too near the literal location of my temporary home. He jeopardized the roof over my head, and I don't think he ever really cared about that possibility, looking back on it. He talked to loud, every other word out of his mouth was a curse word, talking about his wife and other people - all very unbecoming of someone I would want teaching any middle schooler of mine! He wanted to smoke a cigarette and I had to explain to him we needed to move away from the building. He complained about that, too, because it meant being in the sun again.
This is the conversation I wish I'd had the sense to record; but then again, why would I have? I never realized I would need anything he said as proof one day or that it would just be a piece of a much bigger whole that extended far beyond me.
During this conversation he said the following things. This is not verbatim, but as close to the actual words as I can get them. He talked about his promise of sharing my campaign link and supporting it once his 30 days were over and done with. It went from that to him saying he was going to be rich by the time all of this was over. Something about putting Buddy Dyer out of business, and that he was going to buy all the homeless of Orlando houses, because Buddy Dyer was a joke and so were the local homeless organizations. He specifically mentioned a homeless buddy of mine. He told me to put on my seat belt, because we were in for a hell of a ride while he was bringing people down and moving himself up, whatever that meant. He told me that he doesn't really love his wife; the only reason he is married to her is because she has a good heart and she was there to rescue him when times were rough. In fact, he says he is still in love with his ex and always will be. He told me he understood how I felt about not having a good relationship with one of my daughters right now because he is estranged from his, while in fact, according to public record, there is probably good reason he is estranged judging by the domestic violence injunction against him from 2003. He asked me why I thought he'd come all the way out here to see me again, and honestly I had no clue, so I sarcastically said, "because I'm awesome." He let me know that he is smitten by me and I was special - that he felt we were similar in a lot of ways and that I was one of the only people he could truly talk to about anything, because I understood him. He told me that if I were to look up bipolar, it would have his face next to it in the dictionary. [I'm afraid you've gotten bipolar and psychopath mixed up.] He said if his wife didn't stop in her jealous ways that she would get not one penny of what he earned and he'd just have to be dumped 6 times now, or however many it is he is at (it's either 5 or 6). He talked about how she would never survive on her salary, because it was his $90,000 annual that made their family. Teachers make that much?? His delusions of grandeur and nonsensical statements, if not quite rude and rash, continued for a good 30 minutes, while I offered little to no input, mainly because I just didn't know what to say.
After that visit and he left, the following day I left to spend some time with my children, by the grace of God. I'm so thankful that whole ordeal was planned before I became homeless and everything was mostly taken care of. What hadn't been taken care of yet, was provided for. I do not regret my decision to take 2 of my children on vacation whatsoever.
Even while I was gone, I'd get IMs, "hurry back, there's so much to tell you" or "as long as I'm breathing you'll never sleep on the streets." I never met with him again. After I returned to Florida, things on the FB page, Homeless and Hungry, escalated very quickly. People were starting to expose his lies, his motives. He was deleting comments as soon as they would appear. Even if someone had a legitimate question, he would shut them down. He finally reached a breaking point and created a fake profile account under the name of Alice Castner, tricked me and several others into answering some questions, and after I posted a long response in a comment, got paranoid and thought I was going post every single thing he's ever said to me, in typing at least, so he acted nice under his fake profile and said he "had just moved to the area and just wanted to know what charities for the homeless were real and safe to donate to." I have screenshots of him finally admitting it was him on the fake profile account before he deleted it.
He began posting all sorts of personal details about the 5 or so main people on his crap-crap list, on the Homeless and Hungry page. A lot of it was public record, but why go to the length and depth, and use so much time to gather so much on so many people, and post it on your public social media page that is supposed to be RAISING AWARENESS FOR THE HOMELESS and your former STUDENTS are keeping track of and watching over the summer holiday? I will tell you why: to take the attention off you and put it on as many other people as you can. To expose the past mistakes of others in order to make yourself look as good in the light as possible. The more garbage you post about other people, the better you will look, right? Somewhat wrong. He lost over 200 followers within 48 hours, and while all the posts and comments are now gone from the page, I have screenshots of EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
I must sound crazy at this point, like a screenshot-happy psycho, but if you had been verbally assaulted in a video posted for thousands of people to see, been visited uninvited and conversed with, been told so many things and then falsely accused of lying about what you say you'd been told, and had promises broken to you that involve your survival, you might be just a tad overprotective of yourself, as well.
I regret the day I ever met this person. I regret every single thing I ever told him about my personal life, because even though I blog a lot and I'm very open about who I am, I make a CHOICE when I talk to someone face-to-face or in private message about what is going on at that moment in my life, not expecting that choice to become a war of words in a public forum. Granted he didn't throw anything out about my mental illness issues or struggles when he decided to make that video, he may as well have, because he will never understand how much all this has affected my life; my mind. Simply calling me a liar when I KNOW and HE knows exactly what he told me is enough, knowing that he has enough followers to believe him and whatever he says about someone else, regardless of the proof we have mounted against him. That is something I do not get at all. It's right there in these people's faces and the ignorance overwhelms me. I will chalk it up to everyone wanting to see the good, much like I do myself many times. But, this... this has been so over-the-top, I don't see how the negative is possible to ignore.
Raising awareness is great. Lying to and taking away from the actual homeless is not.
His page category, if you will, has gone from non-profit, to community, to social/culture, and is now back to non-profit organization again. He changed it from non-profit the first time when people started calling him out and asking for proof of his 501(c)(3). He would promptly delete those comments and ban anyone who questioned him. Someone finally did a little research. There are no non-profits listed for "Homeless and Hungry," so a search was done under his name and "Dollars 4 Scholars" came up, which is the name he wanted people to make a check out to if they decided to go that route instead of donating to the online Fundrazr campaign. However, it came up as Dollars 4 Scholars, LLC. And it is inactive.
Is an LLC corporation non-profit? If it is inactive, where did all the money go? He shows pictures of his supposed account deposits and WePay checks being made out to the organizations he promised donations to, but only AFTER all the hype about him being a fraud. Everything was supposed to be done when his 30 days were over, yet he waited to make everything out until August 18, 2014, 2 weeks after his 30 days were over and after so many people started questioning his motives. Also, he posted a link supposedly from the IRS about his 501(c)(3) status becoming active (shouldn't that have been done way before this actually started?) with him stating "doesn't matter now," but the link only took me to a survey. Now he complains about being broke and facing bankruptcy, and even goes as far as to state that he is facing homelessness now. Did he know beforehand that he would be going broke? Also, when did he really know that his teaching would NOT be renewed this year and he would not be back in the classroom for the 2014-2015 school year? That's right.. FORMER teacher. He claims he did not know that was going to happen before he set out on his 30-day adventure, but found out after he returned home. I have no choice but to question whether or not that is the truth, and if this whole thing, while possibly really wanting to raise awareness for the homeless, was really more a stunt to make sure he had a future income of sorts in the place of what he would be making as a teacher, had he been renewed to teach for the year. Another question that arises is why is he not teaching this year? What was the reason they did not bring him back? Several people have inquired with Orange County Public Schools and to be honest, I don't fully know those results nor do I pretend to. What I do know is that I'm tired and have no intention of doing any further research on the matter, because just defending myself to people I don't even know has become quite exhausting.
It is a wonderful thing to want to help the homeless. Even though it may sound like the blind leading the blind, so to speak, I'm actually having a friend pick me up on Monday evening so I can go out with her to hand out clothing and items to downtown Orlando's homeless. That does not make me a hero by any means whatsoever. It simply makes me a human being who has compassion for others in that situation, even if I am struggling with it myself. When I am helping others in need, I get out of myself and have the opportunity to GIVE, and that's what is most important to me.
You can't keep it if you don't give it away.
That applies to just about anything; love, strength, compassion, courage. Being selfless in a selfish world is hard enough as it is without people like Thomas Rebman throwing himself into the mixed nuts. He is a perfect example of why people don't trust charities and why people don't WANT to give to the homeless, because they never know the true motives of that person that is taking their well-earned money.
What is not a wonderful thing is taking pictures of actual homeless people sleeping on the streets without their permission and/or knowledge, and posting them to your Facebook page; taking videos of homeless people that are obviously mentally ill, not in an effort to show the faces of the homeless, but to exploit them; making promises to homeless people that you either cannot or have no intention of keeping. It is not okay to talk to me about another homeless person, tell me that person has some serious issues and isn't who they say they are, and then that homeless person then tells me that you told him I'm a whack job and you don't know why you are wasting your time with me. Did you really think I wouldn't find that out? That people don't talk to each other when our suspicions are raised? You went on a Facebook war-of-words-photo-bombing-personal-information-video-bashing-posting rampage, and I'M THE WHACK JOB? I might have bipolar disorder, Tom, but I'm not crazy. I'm not anywhere near stupid, either.
As I was working on this article, I got a message that really disturbed me. So much so, that I had to take an overnight break from finishing this. Even after all of this, after me talking to his wife personally through private messages [which I also have, by the way], knowing that the first time he did this almost split them apart, knowing he needs income now, knowing how many people he has hurt and lied to, including homeless people, after listening to him degrade his own wife and slander the local homeless organizations, and still having so many questions remain unanswered, I find this out:
You have got to be freaking kidding me. I don't care if it says (tentative) or not, the mere fact that he is entertaining this idea bothers me, a lot; it should bother other people, too. Notice he says the first $4108 will go to pay his teaching salary.
**Update: I took those last 3 screenshots of him stating he is tentatively going homeless in another city late last night. It is 12:15 a.m. on August 25, 2014 and that post is GONE. There is now a video pinned to the top of the page. It looks like he really is looking for another place to "go homeless!"
Maybe I should just change the name of my Fundrazr campaign to "Pay Barbara to be homeless and tell you what it's like every day!"
Yep. You really took the high road, there, buddy. Congratulations.
I hope I don't need a restraining order after posting this.
**Update 2: New video. He has decided he is going to either Houston or Los Angeles (among other top choices you will hear in his new video) next for his homeless adventure. Please keep in mind, regardless of whatever "awareness" he thinks he is raising, he is going to be getting PAID to be homeless as he uses your donations to pay what would be his salary for teaching! Personally, I feel it is unethical. If you feel that way too, you should spread some REAL awareness of this person's fake persona so more people don't get exploited, used, and possibly hurt in the process.
New video:
**Update 3: 06/14/2015: He has now gone to several cities to be "homeless." It amazes me that he has actually gained so many blind followers when he was actually losing them before. I am guessing that is because there are no longer people around the page actually speaking the truth. I just don't have time for that nonsense and I have also discovered it is in my best interest as far as health goes, both mental and physical, if I refrain from getting too upset at all the BS he is constantly posting. However, I HAVE gone through some of his posts, and there have been several people, still, in some of the cities that he has gone homeless in, calling him a fraud and saying he is only doing this to make a name for himself. Hallelujah, not all the masses are completely blind. He hardly ever has anything good to say about a place and my gathering is that if he were truly homeless, he would never, ever find anything to be thankful for. Nothing.
He also has two, TWO, fundraisers running simultaneously, but both stating the same purpose. Isn't that a little shady? No, it's a LOT shady. So what if the last donation was a month ago. The fact that people got duped into donating to one or the other is a super sad crime. That's just my opinion, of course. I'm just glad it wasn't a whole lot more money than he got, because GoFundMe money goes straight into your bank account. I just think that money could have gone to actually helping the people who are 100% already homeless.
I hope he enjoyed his cigarettes. I mean, after all, that is what he seems to worry about getting most when he is in homeless fantasyland.
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