Homeless man uses Internet to advocate for cause

VIDEO - Erick Sheptock lives in a downtown D.C. shelter where he shares a 15-foot-by-18-foot room with eleven other men...

Erick Sheptock has built an Internet empire for himself — he has 4,548 Facebook friends, 839 followers on Twitter, and 1,600 unread messages in his email — yet he does not have a place to call home. Sheptock reportedly lives in a downtown Washington, D.C. shelter where he shares a 15-by-18-foot room with eleven other men.

Sheptock, 41, hasn’t had his own permanent address in 15 years. He allegedly wouldn’t move out of the downtown D.C. shelter or work a regular 9-to-5 job because he does not want to compromise his ability to advocate for the homeless.

WATCH MSNBC’S INTERVIEW WITH ERICK SHEPTOCK
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“I’ve used mail to communicate with D.C. government about problems at the shelters” Sheptock says, “I’ve started two blogs, I’m a blogger for change.org”

The self-proclaimed “homeless homeless advocate” also blogs on a website named after him, ericksheptock.com. Some of his Facebook followers include policy makers and college students. Sheptock is a known speaker of the National Coalition for Homelessness.

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