AnnMarie Walsh has a beautiful smile and a soul to match. What she does not have is a home. @padschicago, as she’s known to her followers, stumbled upon Twitter without any idea where it would lead.
“It was an outlet to share the feelings and emotions, sometimes bad” she shared with a group at Social Media Day Chicago recently about her initial tweets. Soon she found herself at local Tweet Ups and in the company of other twitter fans. The outlet was helping her, in many ways.
Power of a Social Brand
During one of the local TweetUps, AnnMarie met a man that would eventually change the course of her life. He later direct messaged her on Twitter and, despite initial hesitation, she replied. He was a social worker connected to a program to end homelessness at a local university; they met and with his help, she was accepted into the program, which included housing.
She’s now advanced into her second program and living safely with a roof over her head, food to eat and on her way to a long-term solution.
“Homeless Individual and Advocate”
Her story continues to inspire from TweetUp to TweetUp as @padschicago is a “Homeless Individual and Advocate” – just read her card. Yes, she has a business card, talk about personal branding! She makes it easy for you to call her, email her and tweet her. She volunteers her time, when she’s feeling up to it, helping other homeless individuals work through their challenges using the power of social media, primarily Twitter and blogs.
It’s Your Turn
I find that if a woman that’s been through the toughest of life’s challenges, according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs that is, can whip up a personal brand, tweet about it and network her way into a program that delivered what she needed (shelter); you can to! Grab a piece of courage from AnnMarie’s story and start your Twitter account today. Join a local TweetUp and network with fellow Twitter fans.
Once you’re on twitter, remember to follow AnnMarie @padschicago and take a stop by her blog.
Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that if you’re reading this and have an extra condo sitting empty that you want to gift to AnnMarie, let her know. She’s the most inspirational, authentic and deserving person I have had the pleasure of meeting.
