AnnMarie Walsh checks her social media accounts using the free Wi-Fi in the Metra station in Arlington Heights. Walsh uses the moniker "@padschicago" for her Twitter, Facebook page, YouTube channel and WordPress blog accounts. She had her head shaved as part of a fundraiser for children's cancer research.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

Dilip Patel, owner of Gateway Newsstand in the Arlington Heights Metra station, said he trusted AnnMarie Walsh to watch his shop when he had to leave the station.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh uses her cellphone to check a post on Twitter from the Arlington Heights Metra station. The 40-year-old formerly homeless woman has used Twitter and other social media sites in hopes of helping followers understand homelessness.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh walks down the stairs from her second floor room at Deborah's Place in Chicago. The residence was formerly a convent.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh, who uses the moniker @padschicago for her Twitter account, posts a photograph of the cement that she slept next to in Arlington Heights as the background image.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh gets a hug while visiting Mark Rouse, owner of Runners High 'n Tri. For a few years, a homeless Walsh slept in an alley behind the store in downtown Arlington Heights. She said Rouse sometimes placed a bottle of water and an energy bar next to her as she slept.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

In 2009, while homeless in the Northwest suburbs, AnnMarie Walsh was invited to be a guest speaker at the 140 Character Conference in Los Angeles. The annual conference explores the effects of the emerging real-time Internet on people, business and entertainment.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh's twitter account @padschicago has more than 36,000 tweets to 4,079 followers. Walsh said she uses a graphic from a photograph of the concrete wall she slept next to in Arlington Heights as the background image for her most of her social media accounts.

Screen Grab from Web

AnnMarie Walsh checks her social media accounts from her room at Marah's of Deborah's Place, a Chicago organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness for women.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer