Empower Missouri - Advocating for Justice for Over 100 Years

Advocating for Justice

For over 100 years

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What drives us everyday

Missourians live below the federal poverty line.

of Missourians live in food insecure households.

Missourians are newly incarcerated each year.

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Affordable Housing

We are driven to make sure every person in our state has access to safe and affordable housing. Housing is the key to many of the goals of our state, including health and mental health outcomes, workforce participation, and safe communities.

Food Security

Food access is foundational to living a long and successful life. We are dedicated in making sure every household in Missouri has healthy meals.

Community Justice

Missouri’s criminal legal system is heavily broken. It continues to rely on outdated judicial precedents and punishes people who are poor. We must abandon these practices and find new ways to address crime, poverty, and the drug epidemic in our state.

Our Mission

Empower Missouri works to secure basic human needs and equal justice for every person in our state through coalition-building and advocacy.

We envision a Missouri in which all people have food, shelter, and justice.

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Weekly Perspective

Read our weekly blog posts to learn more about important anti-poverty advocacy work happening in Missouri.

Upcoming Events

Join us to learn more about our policy priorities and how you can help end poverty in Missouri!

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Get Involved

Join us to advocate for anti-poverty policy – sign up for a coalition, register for training, and more!

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With your help, we have public policy victories!

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Founded in 1901, we have been a faithful voice for evidence-based public policy that supports social justice. Some of our most important victories in the 20^th Century included:

Creation of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights
Advocating for the Missouri Public Defender Commission
Winning a Missouri Housing Trust Fund
Reducing the state sales tax on food by three cents
Passing a state law that created Family Development Accounts
Filing lawsuits that led to the establishment of health care foundations

The 21^st Century has brought even more achievements:

Defeating a regressive sales tax earmarked for transportation funding
Ending the ban on food stamps for some convicted of drug-related felonies
Obtaining an executive order for Fair Chance Hiring which opened up 51,000 state jobs to formerly incarcerated applicants
Securing “Raise the Age” so most 17-year-olds are not tried as adults
Passing criminal justice reform to curb debtors’ prison and mandatory time served policies
Stopping punishment-based bills that would have taken food assistance away from tens of thousands of parents and children

Be a part of our continuing legacy by becoming a donor and supporter today!

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