AP pictures: Poverty and addiction grip la' Skid Row

The Skid Row enviornment of downtown los angeles is home to thousands of chronically homeless people.

every one has a different story about how they ended up in this middle of abject poverty, the place medicine rule the streets evening and day.

"it's miserable quitting, or trying — making an attempt anything," 33-12 months-old Andrew Hudson said lately whereas using heroin on Skid Row.

america's homeless population expanded this 12 months for the primary time considering 2010, pushed by means of a surge in the variety of people living on the streets in l. a. and other West Coast cities.

in line with the latest nationwide count, four of every 10 americans who are homeless in the U.S. have a significant drug addiction or are severely mentally unwell.