PHOTOS: West Coast crisis drives up US homeless count

A paramedic examines a drug addict lying on a side walk unconscious from an apparent drug overdose in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017, in Los Angeles. The latest nationwide homeless count shows that 4 of every 10 people living on the street are severely mentally ill or have a serious drug addiction. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Tucked in a sleeping bag, Danny, a 60-year-old homeless man who only gave his first name, lies on an overpass above the 101 Freeway, one of the nation’s busiest freeways, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. Although he never feels safe sleeping on the street, Danny said the noise from the freeway doesn’t bother him much. “You get used to it after a while.” (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Oct. 26, 2017, image, the city-sanctioned tent encampment, below, sits on the edge of Balboa Park as the sun sets behind buildings downtown in San Diego. A parking lot in San Diego’s famed Balboa Park has acted for the past two months as an unusual triage center. Scores of tents, mobile medical units, portable toilets and showers were brought in to meet the needs of hundreds of people affected by a societal problem that has bloomed into a deadly disaster: Homelessness. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Homeless man Alonzo Harrison,47, takes a nap on a bench at Pershing Square decorated with Christmas lights in the background on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in Los Angeles. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A man who identified himself just as Vincent, sorts his belongings outside his tent Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. Vincent said he thought he was bulletproof and never had to worry about getting a job as a young man. “Things ain’t the way they were anymore.” The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Oct. 25, 2017, a man who declined to give his name pushes a broken bicycle from where he is living with two others below palm trees along Mission Bay in San Diego. After years of deliberation on the plight of the homeless in San Diego, a recent Hepatitis A outbreak is forcing the city to act. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Homeless man Thaddeus Bell, 50, sits outside his tent with the street address of his childhood home in Oklahoma hanging on a fence Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in Los Angeles. “I might be homeless but I’m human just like everybody else,” said Bell. “I deserve a real house like any other person.” The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A homeless man, who declined to give his name, is dwarfed by skyscrapers Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in Los Angeles. The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Oct. 18, 2017, image, Christine Wade, left, sorts clothing as Roland, 4, cries and sisters Shawnni, 12, right, and Shaccoya, 14, draw in the family’s tent provided by the city in a sanctioned encampment in San Diego. The Wade family is among 250 people living in the city’s first campground open for the homeless, set up to curb the worst Hepatitis A outbreak in the United States in decades. The new camp, in a parking lot on the edge of sprawling Balboa Park, reflects the severity of the homeless crisis gripping cities along the west coast. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A homeless man sleeps on a concrete floor outside an office building under renovation Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Nov. 8, 2017, image, a boy plays as the sun sets over donated tents for homeless families lined up on a parking lot in the city-sanctioned encampment in San Diego. A parking lot in San Diego’s famed Balboa Park has acted for the past two months as an unusual triage center. Scores of tents, mobile medical units, portable toilets and showers were brought in to meet the needs of hundreds of people affected by a societal problem that has bloomed into a deadly disaster: Homelessness. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Wearing a Christmas headband, homeless woman Grace Fernandez smokes outside her tent in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. “Holidays are just so much special. It should bring us altogether as one even if we are homeless,” said Fernandez. The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Homeless people wait in line for a meal served by a community organization outside Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A homeless man sits outside a high-rise building converted into apartments Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Homeless tents are dwarfed by skyscrapers as 63-year-old Vincent, who only gave his first name, sorts his belongings Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. Vincent said he thought he was bulletproof and never had to worry about getting a job as a young man. “Things ain’t the way they were anymore.” The U.S. Department on Housing and Urban Development release of the 2017 homeless numbers are expected to show a dramatic increase in the number of people lacking shelter along the West Coast. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Homeless man Theodore Neubauer, a 78-year-old Vietnam War veteran, looks at his smartphone while passing time in his tent Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. “Well, there’s a million-dollar view,” said Neubauer on what it’s like to be homeless in Los Angeles. Neubauer has a tent pitched in the heart of downtown Los Angeles and is surrounded by high-rise buildings. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Tents belonging to homeless people are covered with tarps as Los Angeles police officers on horses patrol in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Homeless man Thurman Butler Jr., 66, sweeps around his tent Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. “A lot of people in America don’t realize they might be two checks, three checks, four checks away from being homeless,” said Butler who became homeless after he was evicted from his apartment. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Seattle native Robert Irwin, a 72-year-old homeless man who has been homeless for 7 months, walks between rows of tents at Camp Second Chance, a city-sanctioned homeless encampment, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, in Seattle. Irwin said he is planning a trip to Michigan to see his older sister. “I have my own SUV, Chevy Trailblazer. I want to go in March. It will be my last trip.” (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A homeless man sleeps curled up on the steps of a police station in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017, in Los Angeles. According to the annual count released in May by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Los Angeles County’s homeless population has increased to 57,794, a 23 percent jump from last year’s count. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Delmi Ruiz, bottom, sits inside and RV where here family lives and sleeps under her daughter Delmi, 4, top, on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, in Mountain View, Calif. The Ruiz Hernandez was family was left homeless after the landlord in the apartment they rented hiked their rent beyond what they could afford. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A homeless woman with a piece of bread, who declined to give her name, eats chicken soup while other homeless people wait in line for food Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. According to the annual count released in May by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Los Angeles County’s homeless population has increased to 57,794, a 23 percent jump from last year’s count. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Sept. 20, 2017 photo, Cheyvonne Price, who says she is homeless primarily due to heroin addiction, naps on a sidewalk outside a Starbucks in downtown Portland, Ore., after spending a night outside on the streets trying to keep dry in the rain. Cheyvonne said she hoped to get enough money during the day to afford a bed at a hostel for the night and said that she wishes people would realize that homeless people “are not all bad people.” (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

D. J. Meek, a 40-year-old homeless drug addict with collapsed veins, injects heroin into his body shortly after smoking crystal meth in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. The latest nationwide homeless count shows that 4 of every 10 people living on the street are severely mentally ill or have a serious drug addiction. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Ellen James-Penney, a lecturer at San Jose State University, prepares a lesson for the class she teaches inside a station wagon where she sleeps at Grace Baptist Church on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. Unable to afford rent in the Silicon Valley on her adjunct professor wages, James-Penney, her husband and two dogs, are forced to live in their car. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

James Williams, a 50-year-old homeless man who has been on the street for 20 years, sits in a wheelchair in the tunnel where he spends the night Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. Williams was dropped off by a taxi near the tunnel the night before, after being hospitalized for more than a week due to his respiratory problems. Williams said he wanted to avoid a shelter because it would be too crowded. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Two homeless people, Tammy Stephen, 54, left, and Bennie Koffa, 66, pass each other at Camp Second Chance, a city-sanctioned homeless encampment, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, in Seattle. Against the backdrop of its booming economy, the West Coast is experiencing another type of boom_a massive surge in homeless people living on the streets that in many places is beginning to overwhelm the ability of local governments to deal with it. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sitting in front of a tent pitched on a sidewalk, Daniel Shawn, a 48-year-old homeless man, is silhouetted against the street lights Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. Since last fall, Los Angeles city and county voters approved spending $4.7 billion in an attempt to tackle the problem, largely through adding low-cost housing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A young homeless woman, in a drug-induced state, wobbles while sitting on a milk case with a teddy bear in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. The latest nationwide homeless count shows that 4 of every 10 people living on the street are severely mentally ill or have a serious drug addiction. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A man walks past angel wings titled “Africa Wings” by artist Colette Miller in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. According to the annual count released in May by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Los Angeles County’s homeless population has increased to 57,794, a 23 percent jump from last year’s count. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, Nathanael Baisley, 38, sits in a bus en route to Santa Monica Beach, where he spends the night, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, in Los Angeles. Baisley said he has been homeless on and off for three years and is going through a divorce with his wife who lives in England with their 5-year-old son. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Sept. 22, 2017 image, a woman looks on among trash from an encampment for homeless people along the San Diego River in San Diego. California declared a statewide emergency due to a hepatitis A outbreak linked to homeless encampments. Comparisons are being made to conditions more commonly seen in Third World countries. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A piece of bread is left on a sidewalk as Korey Epps, a 44-year-old homeless man who had his leg amputated due to an infection while in jail, waits in line to enter Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission to spend the night at the shelter Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Seattle. Serving 14 months in jail, Epps said he lost his job, family and home. “Everyday I feel more more worthless, hopeless. I can’t believe this is where my life is,” said Epps. “I may as well be on drugs because I lost everything.” (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Two Homeless people, Kerry Schmid, 59, and Teri Angus-Lydell, 64, foreground, sit in a small car where they sleep at night in the parking lot of a Walmart store Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, in Huntington Beach, Calif. Schmid has been living in his car since 2000, and Angus-Lydell joined him about a month ago seeking protection. The two are among more than a dozen homeless people sleeping in the parking lot including Schmid’s brother. “I’m thankful. This is like a palace to me,” said Schmid. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A man gets a meal from Food not Bombs, an advocacy group helping homeless people, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Santa Cruz, Calif. On a street corner in Santa Cruz’s main thoroughfare, Food Not Bombs sets up a meal station on Saturdays and Sundays to provide for the city’s increasing homeless population, despite constant pressure from some residents who see the concentration of homeless, in the downtown district, as a problem. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Covering herself with a blanket, homeless woman Christian McKenzie, a 29-year-old heroin addict and mother of a 7-year-old boy, looks away while settling down in the Waterfront Park area Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Seattle. “I’m doing drugs still, but I’m not doing them as much. I’ve restrained myself all day not to,” said McKenzie. “I miss my kitchen. I miss my kid.” (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Sept. 19, 2017 photo, a man sleeps in a doorway in downtown Portland, Ore. On any given night, and often during the day, dozens of people sleep or camp on the sidewalks and parks of downtown Portland, as the rising crisis of homelessness becomes more visible. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Carrying plastic bags stuffed with his belongings, a homeless man, who declined to give his name, pauses on a sidewalk Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. According to the annual count released in May by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Los Angeles County’s homeless population has increased to 57,794, a 23 percent jump from last year’s count. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Stella Tatola, a homeless woman staying in a women’s shelter at the Sanctuary, a permanent shelter managed by Episcopal Community Services, cleans her bed while getting ready to start her day, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017, in San Francisco. The ECS has been providing services for homeless people since 1982. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Charles, a 59-year-old homeless man who only gave his first name, wears a hat that says “God is good all the time” as he and other homeless people wait to enter Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission to spend the night at the shelter Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this Sept. 28, 2017 photo, a person sleeps under a blanket on a beach near the Ocean Beach Pier in San Diego. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, leaving elected officials and outreach workers scrambling for solutions. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A large homeless encampment is formed in the Santa Ana Civic Center Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Ana, Calif. California declared a statewide emergency due to a hepatitis A outbreak linked to homeless encampments. Comparisons are being made to conditions more commonly seen in Third World countries. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A group of homeless people sleep in the courtyard of the Midnight Mission Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, in Los Angeles. The mission’s courtyard is open to any homeless people looking for a safe place to spend the night. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Lying on a urine-stained sidewalk, two homeless drug addicts, high on drugs, hallucinate in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. According to Midnight Mission’s Joey Weinert, a former drug addict turned volunteer manger who now helps homeless drug addicts fight their addiction, said many homeless people use drugs and alcohol as a remedy to cope with their lives. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sitting on a bed in a temporary shelter at Grace Baptist Church, Bernadette Ortiz, a 39-year-old homeless woman, kisses her 9-day-old baby girl, Serenity, as her fiance and the baby’s father, Ricardo Lopez, foreground, trims flowers they received as gifts after Ortiz gave a birth to the baby Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. The couple is moving into a studio apartment in a week, Ortiz’s first home in five years. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Joseph Nalty, a 64-year-old homeless man who grew up in Iowa, dampens his hat to cool off in the Waterfront Park area Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Seattle. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Delmi Ruiz, 41, who is five months pregnant, works in the kitchen area of her RV parked in front of an apartment building, where the monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit is more than $3000, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, in Mountain View, Calif. Ruiz and her husband, who works as a landscaper earning minimum wage, have been living in the RV for more than two years with their four children after they could no longer afford the rent. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A mentally disabled woman stares at a camera as a homeless drug addict, who said his name was April Jane, sits on a sidewalk asking for money, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. The latest nationwide homeless count shows that 4 of every 10 people living on the street are severely mentally ill or have a serious drug addiction.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A homeless man grabs food from a trash can in the Skid Row area, home to the nation’s largest concentration of homeless people, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, in Los Angeles. At least 10 cities have declared official states of emergency, and California declared a statewide emergency due to a hepatitis A outbreak linked to homeless encampments. Comparisons are being made to conditions more commonly seen in Third World countries. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Homeless people wait in line for a meal served by a community organization outside Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region’s success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Officers from the Oranges County Sheriffs Dept. patrol a homeless encampment along the Santa Ana River Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)