- [Interviewer] Ann Marie.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] Otherwise on Twitter known as @padschicago.
We're here in a bus station, not a bus station,
a metro station in Chicago,
and you're homeless.
And you told me you come here and you just,
well tell me.
What happens now?
- Usually I just wander around.
Sit here, sometimes get something to eat.
Wander around the streets.
Look at things.
There isn't really a whole lot to do on the weekends.
I haven't got money to do anything.
- [Interviewer] Well how long have you been homeless?
- It's been,
a matter of years now.
Like four or five years.
- [Interviewer] In this one area?
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Now your, you do have a case manager,
and you're trying to get housing and,
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Tell me about that.
- I'm starting to work with some new case managers now,
and we're trying to get some sort of housing and healthcare
set up for me so I can
try and get out of this.
Try and get a better life.
- [Interviewer] How did you end up on the streets?
- A lot of things.
Originally it started with getting laid off at a job.
And,
combination of job problems
and having PTSD.
Post-traumatic stress.
A lot of issues in life that doesn't work very well.
- [Interviewer] Now you use social media,
and we've connected what,
maybe six months ago or so via social media?
- Perhaps, yeah.
- [Interviewer] And actually I, please forgive me,
I was comin' into Chicago and even forgot you were here.
And last night, you woke me up on Twitter and said,
(giggling) "Hey! You're here!
"I'm still here, I'm homeless!"
Tell me about being homeless and using social media.
Why are you on Facebook?
Why are you using social media and Twitter,
and does it help you?
- Oh, it helps a lot.
One thing it does is
kind of educates people I guess,
to my situation
and,
helps them to understand more of what I need
and what my life is like.
It helps me a little with stress.
I can do a little venting sometimes.
I can send a message through a cellphone
or on the Internet
and say exactly what my thoughts are at that moment.
- [Interviewer] Now how often do you get Internet access?
- It varies.
Whenever the library is open depending on my schedule.
It might be just for a few hours a day.
It might be for the whole day.
It could be
a few days a week or almost every day.
- [Interviewer] And now you're using,
how do you use Twitter on your phone?
- I just, I do a text message.
I don't get Internet on my phone,
but I signed up to,
on Twitter to access it by the phone,
which I love!
So I can still get my messages out.
- [Interviewer] What's your future like?
- Well hopefully,
getting into something.
I wanna,
I'm trying to get into some sort of,
there's mental health type treatment,
and get some physical health issues taken care of.
So hopefully that will,
I mean things are already starting to look up.
I've got,
I've gone to some new doctors and medication
that's startin' to work and the new case manager, it's,
I've got some good feelings.
- [Interviewer] Where did ya sleep last night?
- Last night,
it's an empty lot
right by, there's a bush and some trees
and got my sleeping bag and a wool blanket.
- [Interviewer] Probably since you've been with my vlog,
and it's really ours, the homeless,
you know this question's coming.
If ya had three wishes what would they be?
- Three wishes.
Have a normal life again.
Not that I know what normal is,
but normal, having a job and a house.
Getting to see my kids and family again.
Those are probably the big ones.
- [Interviewer] Thank you very much for talkin' to me.
- You've been great.
Thank you.