Teacher Choosing To Be Homeless Hopes To Teach Students A Lesson With Time On Skid Row

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Florida teacher has traded in his classroom for the streets with the hope of teaching a lesson on empathy.

Thomas Rebman, a schoolteacher from Orlando, quit his job to raise awareness about the complex issue and launch a program called "Homeless and Hungry."

CBS2's Randy Paige spoke to him while he survived downtown's Skid Row.

Asked what took him by surprise the most: "The amount of mental illness, absolutely. And the danger," Rebman said.

Rebman estimates 60 percent of the people he's met on the street are mentally ill — many are addicted to drugs and alcohol and, he says, most of the remaining 40 percent aren't homeless but seek to profit from the desperate addicts who call the streets home.

"They're selling crack, they're selling, you know, morphine, heroin, pills, the gamut," he said.

And, according to Rebman, that makes Los Angeles one of the most dangerous cities he's visited so far.

"I'm a scared rabbit. You don't sleep. You're gonna get your throat slit if you sleep hard. You got to find a place where you can sit down where nobody will hassle you. And maybe you lay down and a half hour later it's not cool for you to be there," he said.

"You're not safe as a homeless person, ever. And that wears on you."

For more information about Rebman's efforts and how you can help, visit his website.