Images: Tweeting To Find a Home
Posted12/30/2011 12:01 AM



AnnMarie Walsh was featured in a June 2010 issue of Streetwise magazine. The story was about Walsh's tweets from the streets of Arlington Heights.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer


AnnMarie Walsh receives a hug while visiting Mark Rouse, owner of Runners High 'n Tri, for the first time since Walsh was homeless and slept behind the store in downtown Arlington Heights for five-years. Rouse, arriving to work, would leave Walsh energy bars and bottles of water as she slept in her sleeping bag on concrete in an Arlington Heights alley.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer


AnnMarie Walsh enters her room at Marah's Program at Deborah's Place, a supportive housing organization building, on the north-side of Chicago on Tuesday, December 20th. Walsh was homeless in Arlington Heights and other suburbs for about five years prior to getting temporary housing and then Deborah's Place in April.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh's twitter account @padschicago has over 36,000 tweets to over 4,082 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 walks to the Metra Station in Arlington Heights on Tuesday, December 20th.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

Mark Rouse, owner of Runners High 'n Tri, gives AnnMarie Walsh an energy bar for nostalgic seasons as she visits with him for the first time since Walsh was homeless and sleeping between the store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in downtown Arlington Heights for five years. Rouse provided Walsh with energy bars when she was homeless.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

In 2009, while homeless in Arlington Heights, AnnMarie Walsh was invited to be a guest speaker at the 140 Characters Conference in Los Angeles. A sponsor provided transportation and accommodations for her to speak at the twitter annual conference that explores emerging real-time internet chatter on people, business, and entertainment.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh speaks at the Metra Station in Arlington Heights .
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer


AnnMarie Walsh uses the moniker @padschicago for her Twitter account and uses a photograph of the cement that she slept next to in Arlington Heights as the background image.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh walks down the stairs from her second-floor room at Deborah's Place in Chicago.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer


AnnMarie Walsh checks her social media accounts from her room at Marah's Program at Deborah's Place, a supportive housing organization building, on the north side of Chicago on Tuesday, December 20th.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh pauses a moment after pointing out the concrete area, on far right, in the alley between the Runners High 'n Tri store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in downtown Arlington Heights where she slept in her sleeping bag for five-years ending about a year ago.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh checks her social media accounts using the free wi-fi in the Metra Station in Arlington Heights.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh points out the concrete area in the alley between the Runners High 'n Tri store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in downtown Arlington Heights where she slept in her sleeping bag for five years.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh, with her laptop backpack, leaves Deborah's Place in Chicago for a day trip to Arlington Heights on December 20th.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh points out the walkway, at right, between the Runners High 'n Tri store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in downtown Arlington Heights where she slept in her sleeping bag for five years.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh said residents in the building above the Runners High 'n Tri store in Arlington Heights would bring food and sometimes left-over dinner for her.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh, with her laptop backpack, walks out of Deborah's Place in Chicago for a day trip to Arlington Heights on December 20th.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh slept in a sleeping bag on the concrete in the alley between the Runners High 'n Tri store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in Arlington Heights.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

At the far right is the spot AnnMarie Walsh slept for years in the alley between the Runners High 'n Tri store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in downtown Arlington Heights.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh checks the train schedule to Chicago at the Metra Station in Arlington Heights on Tuesday, December 20th.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh visits with Mark Rouse, owner of Runners High 'n Tri, for the first time since Walsh was homeless and slept behind the store in downtown Arlington Heights for five years.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh points out the concrete spot in a driveway leading into a walkway alley between the Runners High 'n Tri store and Vail Avenue Parking Garage in Arlington Heights where she slept in a sleeping bag for five years.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh gets a hug while visiting Mark Rouse, owner of Runners High 'n Tri, for the first time since Walsh was homeless and slept behind the store in downtown Arlington Heights for five years. Rouse, arriving to work early, would leave Walsh energy bars and bottles of water as she slept.
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

AnnMarie Walsh checks her social media accounts using the free wi-fi at the Metra Station in Arlington Heights. Walsh uses the moniker padschicago for her Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and WordPress accounts to bring awareness to the homeless in Chicago, the suburbs, and throughout the U.S
George LeClaire | Staff Photographer
|
Get articles sent to your inbox.
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.
If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.