According to the Los Angeles Almanac, 254,000 men, women and children face homelessness during at least one part of the year. Measure H plans to help the homeless by implementing a quarter-cent sales tax.

On March 7,  the primary election occurred — California voters voted yes for Measure H. According to their website, this tax would enable 45,000 people to gain housing and overcome homelessness. This measure required a two-third vote in order to be put into action — and it passed.

According to United Way of Greater Los Angeles who supports the measure, they are trying to “permanently break the cycle of poverty for [the] most vulnerable neighbors: families, students, veterans and the homeless.”

Chris Ko, the Director of System and Innovations for United Way of Greater Los Angeles, believes that the process in creating the measure was extensive. They had to figure out how much money was needed to make a true difference along with figuring out how to make the money.

“Measure H was the most sustainable and significant solution [to help homelessness],” Ko said.

Ko believes that the homeless have no voice, but was happy that the people of Los Angeles had the opportunity to vote for this cause. He also found it interesting how hard it was to get the measure on the ballot.

“Every time I speak on homelessness I feel that it is such a big privilege to speak on behalf of our homeless neighbors,” said Ko.

Ko believes that in the future 75,000 lives will be helped by this sales tax. This measure’s primary goal is to keep people off the streets and find them homes. It also hopes to give the community more resources such as street outreach teams, mental health evaluations and more.

“[This] is the proper set of tools that we know not only help people leave homelessness,” Ko said, “but become thriving members of our neighborhoods and communities.”

Ko is proud of the work he has done and all the compassion that many Angelenos feel towards the homeless.

“I always [think] about how many people we walk by, drive by who have really cried out for this kind of support for years,” Ko said.

Correction Statement March 18 2017 6:33 pm: The original version of this article included a mischaracterization of one source’s statement. It said that Angelenos do not care about the homeless. It has been corrected to say the homeless have no voice.