{"id":14106,"date":"2019-09-06T12:35:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T12:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/06\/army-veteran-never-gave-up-trying-to-secure-shelter-for-homeless-veteran\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:32:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:32:37","slug":"army-veteran-never-gave-up-trying-to-secure-shelter-for-homeless-veteran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2019\/09\/06\/army-veteran-never-gave-up-trying-to-secure-shelter-for-homeless-veteran\/","title":{"rendered":"Army veteran never gave up trying to secure shelter for homeless veteran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was \u201chard headed\u201d and stubborn. But he also was a generous person who would give someone in need the shirt off his own back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s how former Army Staff Sgt. Thomas \u201cT-Man\u201d Brown described <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/11\/01\/after-a-worrisome-rise-last-year-the-number-of-homeless-veterans-dropped-in-2018\/\" target=_blank>homeless veteran<\/a> Randall Strieby, who died on Sept. 3 from pneumonia at the age of 68.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the past six years, Brown was on a mission to convince Strieby \u2014 known as \u201cRoofing Randy\u201d \u2014 to secure permanent housing and leave the woods in Hillsborough County in Florida. As the president of Tampa Homeless Outreach in Florida and a veteran outreach coordinator for Tampa Crossroads, Brown\u2019s job focuses on finding homeless veterans permanent housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown, who says his main goal is finding safe shelter for homeless veterans, routinely seeks out the homeless and provides them with materials they need. That\u2019s how he first met Strieby in the woods near Apollo Beach, a small waterfront community south of Tampa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Brown initially tried to convince him to leave the woods, Strieby wasn\u2019t ready to do so after being homeless since 1998. But Brown started to regularly check in on the Army vet, who claimed he served from 1973 to 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere was just something about him, we just grew,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnd I talked to him about my military history and [he\u2019d] tell me about his, and about why he became homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI didn\u2019t judge him one way or the other, you know, we\u2019d just talk,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown said that he would take people to meet Strieby in the woods during ride alongs in his truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor somebody that was in the situation that he was in, he was always upbeat,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At one point, it appeared Strieby would seek a more permanent living situation. In August 2018, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/military\/macdill\/Howard-Altman-Homeless-veteran-finally-agrees-to-leave-the-woods-behind_170723198\/\" target=_blank>Tampa Bay Times reported<\/a> that Strieby had gone to a hotel and was planning to get an apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I am making a little lifestyle change, because everybody kept on me about doing it,&#8221; Strieby said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. &#8220;T-Man took a couple of years to do it, I finally did it today.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But according to Brown, Strieby returned to the woods soon after. Earlier this year, he was planning to move to Indiana to be with family. Since Strieby didn\u2019t want to fly, and didn\u2019t have a driver\u2019s license, Brown took a week off from work to drive him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown was in touch with Strieby\u2019s Indiana family coordinating the exact date that he would arrive with Strieby when the family notified him that Strieby was welcome to visit \u2014 but not stay permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strieby was distraught that he wouldn\u2019t rejoin his family, said Brown, who was tasked with giving his homeless friend the bad news. The family brushoff was so devastating that Streiby opted to stay in the woods after the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brown said Strieby resisted his efforts to line up more permanent housing because he was \u201chard headed.\u201d The Tampa Bay Times also reported Strieby pushed back on securing permanent shelter because he wanted to remain close to his job, where he worked as a roofer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not the type of person that gives up,\u201d Brown said. \u201cHe was stubborn and I\u2019m still stubborn and I was determined to get him housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After plans to head to Indiana fell through, Strieby continued to live in the woods until he was hospitalized about three weeks ago after experiencing several seizures. He was discharged from the hospital and sent to a rehabilitation facility, but showed signs of breathing difficulties shortly after arriving at the facility. He died late Saturday from pneumonia, according to Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe was like a brother to me,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot, he and I,\u201d Brown added. \u201cI really miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A memorial service will be held in Indiana, but it\u2019s unclear when it will take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are more than 40,000 homeless veterans each night. Out of the entire homeless population, approximately 11 percent are veterans, <a href=\"http:\/\/nchv.org\/index.php\/news\/media\/background_and_statistics\/\" target=_blank>according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you see a homeless vet that is on the street, thank them for their service and don\u2019t be disrespectful to them,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBecause they\u2019re human just like everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the past six years, Thomas &#8220;T-Man&#8221; Brown was on a mission to convince Strieby \u2014 known as \u201cRoofing Randy\u201d \u2014 to secure permanent housing and leave the woods in Hillsborough County in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,12,25,19,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3299],"class_list":["post-14106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SECZU23QFVAWRFOCKGPYVHEOIQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2019\/09\/06\/army-veteran-never-gave-up-trying-to-secure-shelter-for-homeless-veteran\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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