"I can't lay this on anyone but myself," she says. "I just can't get things going."
Heffellinger's environment of choice is no Walden, with tourists, shoppers and students hustling busily through her residence.
But like Thoreau, Heffellinger says she does not want to be around crowds and sometimes becomes upset by having too many people around her.
"I don't like to be around people--I like to be withdrawn, on my own," she says. "I'm afraid to get close to people because of what happened in my life."
Though declining to elaborate, Heffellinger describes her relationship with her family growing up as strained. She cites this as one of the underlying reasons for her homelessness.
"I can't find trust anywhere, even from my own family. That's my basic problem," she explains.
This problem is evidenced by the fact that Heffellinger refuses the offer of lunch.
"I have nowhere to go, I have no close friends," she says. "I wish I were close to my family."
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