Overflowing shopping carts are a common sight along the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, Calif.

Once the sun goes down, visitors are told the safest way to travel through Skid Row is by taxi, if you can find a driver who’s willing to make the trip.

The Los Angeles Christian Health Center advertises openings at its office in Skid Row.

Two homeless men rummage through a Dumpster on Fourth Street in Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, looking for bedding material and food.

A homeless woman keeps watch over her belongings and those of some friends on San Pedro Street in Skid Row.

A homeless man tweezes the hair on his head while sitting in a plaza across from Los Angeles City Hall, located just a few blocks from Skid Row, on a Saturday afternoon.

One of several homeless men and women who took refuge on concrete benches that line a plaza across the street from Los Angeles City Hall

Homeless line the alley behind one of six Lamp Community drop-in centers in Skid Row, where homeless men and women with severe mental illness are taught self-sufficiency. The photo was taken from the roof of Union Rescue Mission, which provides beds for 1,000 homeless each night.

A lone homeless man pushes his shopping cart up a deserted Fourth Street in downtown Los Angeles on a Saturday afternoon.

A homeless man pushes a cart containing all of his possessions through the streets of Skid Row.

Shopping carts for the homeless provided by Los Angeles Catholic Worker are designated with signs throughout Skid Row in Los Angeles. Anyone who isn’t homeless but is caught with a cart is subject to prosecution.

Portable toilets that resemble old-fashioned ticket booths are strategically placed on street corners in Skid Row because the homeless aren’t permitted to use public restrooms in hotels or restaurants.

The homeless begin to mark their spots as they prepare to hunker down for the evening on the sidewalk on San Pedro Street in the heart of Skid Row in Los Angeles.

A homeless woman holds on to her cart while taking a nap on Seventh Street in Los Angeles’ Skid Row.

A homeless man fed the pigeons each morning outside our hotel, the Kyoto Grand, in Little Tokyo, just a few blocks from Skid Row.

A homeless woman makes herself as comfortable as possible on a side street in Skid Row.

A homeless man waits for his clothes to dry on a nearby bench in a plaza near Los Angeles City Hall.

A homeless man checks his cart outside a Skid Row store.

Union Rescue Mission is a five-story building on San Pedro Street in the heart of Skid Row that can sleep 1,000 homeless and serves more than 4,000 meals per day.