Uniontown veteran reflects on month of living homeless
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Veteran Brandon Rumbaugh, combat wounded double ambutee, motivational speaker and business student at Penn State, looks back on his experience of spending a month homeless last year in Marshall Memorial Plaza to raise awareness for homelessness among veterans.
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Veteran Brandon Rumbaugh, combat wounded double ambutee, and business student at Penn State, also shares his story as a motivational speaker, which he did recently at Laurel Highlands Middle School.
A year has passed since Afghan veteran Brandon Rumbaugh spent a month living outdoors at Uniontown’s George Marshall Memorial Plaza to call attention to homeless veterans.
Rumbaugh, 27, left his warm Uniontown home last November to brave the elements, getting by with just a couple pieces of clothing, a cot and a sleeping bag.
As his story spread, Rumbaugh raised about $29,000 for charity and talked to people who came as far away as Florida and Texas just to meet him.
He noted, “The situation I was going through wasn’t anything like what people who are truly homeless go through, but I wanted people to understand.”
A 2007 graduate of Uniontown Area High School, Rumbaugh is a Marine Corps veteran who lost both his legs in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in 2010 in Afghanistan while helping another serviceman who was also injured.
Today, he is earning a business degree at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, while working as a motivational speaker, a role in which he has met people who are homeless.
“I’m in Pittsburgh a lot speaking, so I get to see the city. It’s a big issue with homeless veterans. How can someone who served this country have no place to go?” he asked.
Eliminating homelessness for veterans is also a cause being undertaken by the federal government through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which reported a 33 percent decline in homeless veterans between 2010 and 2014.
Asked the importance of a home, Rumbaugh said, “It’s the foundation for everything in your life. It’s a place for you to start from and build off of in every aspect.”
Rumbaugh said he decided to live homeless about five months before he undertook the mission.
“I was just lying in bed and thinking about what I can do, and this idea came up,” he said in a recent interview at the home he shares with his dog Mac and cats Rocky and Ivan.
Rumbaugh himself has benefited from the kindness of others as he moved into a specially designed home in Uniontown in 2014 that was built for him by The Homes for Our Troops, headquartered in Taunton, Massachusetts.
“Without the house, I wouldn’t have been able to take on all these opportunities,” he said.
Motivated to do something for others, Rumbaugh checked with the city and police for permission to live one month at Marshall Memorial Plaza, which is located at Uniontown’s busy Five Corners Intersection. The plaza is a park dedicated to General George Marshall, Uniontown’s most famous native, who served as Army Chief of Staff during World War II and whose plan to restore western Europe after World War II led to his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The plaza recalls moments in Marshall’s life with a dramatic display of flags of nations helped by the Marshall Plan.
Rumbaugh took on the assignment Oct. 31 to Nov. 29 in 2015, ending the mission on the anniversary of his being injured in Afghanistan. This venture also took place during a state budget impasse that caused the temporary closure of some City Mission homeless shelters.
Rumbaugh felt prepared by his military service that included a stretch in Afghanistan living without showers, running water or a regular bathroom.
In Marshall Plaza, Rumbaugh slept on a cot at the foot of the World War I Doughboy statue. His only cover from the elements was a sleeping bag that someone brought him.
“(The weather) was mixed. A few days, it was 70. A few nights, it was 10 degrees. I woke up and there would be frost on my hair,” he said.
To stay warm, Rumbaugh took walks around the city. He ate only when people brought him food. He took only two showers that month at a local business that offered him use of its facility.
Rumbaugh put up signs at the plaza about his mission and gave interviews to the media. As his story spread, people came to see him.
“People came from Florida, Georgia and Texas. Some news station played it in Florida, and people made trips to come and see me,” Rumbaugh said. “It was pretty amazing.”
He agreed to speak at several local schools that month with someone picking him up and taking him back to the plaza.
“They wanted to know how I got hurt,” Rumbaugh said of the students.
When he told them about his homeless project, Rumbaugh said, “They wanted to know how they could help.”
Many people wanted to help. Rumbaugh used a small tent he set up at the plaza to collect food that people donated. In turn, he gave the supplies to City Mission.
“We took five or six truckloads,” said Rumbaugh, explaining the supplies included canned goods, snacks and cases of Gatorade and water.
In addition, Rumbaugh collected funds for Veterans Place in Pittsburgh, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness among veterans in the Pittsburgh region. Rumbaugh said about $17,000 was collected in Uniontown, including through a spaghetti dinner and reception hosted for Rumbaugh on his final day of the mission. Another $12,000 was donated a few weeks later at a fundraiser in Philadelphia.
Rumbaugh is grateful for the support and proud of the help from local residents. He sometimes hears bad comments about Fayette County but noted, “People in Fayette County are good people.”
Rumbaugh hopes the mission was a learning experience for many. He wanted to call attention to homeless veterans but eventually wanted people to be aware of anyone who is homeless.
“If you are willing to do for me, why not be willing to do for a complete stranger? That’s one of the points we wanted to get across,” he said.
While he hasn’t decided on any specifics, Rumbaugh said he would like to take on another project to help others in the future.
“I feel that’s something we all should do,” said Rumbaugh. “That’s a part of life.”