For the last several months we’ve been celebrating our 125th anniversary year. This fall, our Anti Poverty Advocates Summit will be the height of celebrating. Our organization started as an annual conference, the Missouri Conference on Charities and Corrections, with our first-ever event being held on January 10 and 11 in 1901 at the Downtown...Lee mas

In 1984 Missouri voters first approved a conservation sales tax of 0.1%. The Parks, Soil and Water Sales Tax applies to every taxable sale in Missouri, including groceries, and the revenue generated is designated only for this purpose. Some of the fund goes to soil preservation to correct and prevent erosion. In 1982 Missouri had...Lee mas

This August you’ll be able to vote in statewide primary elections to decide the party candidates for your area, as well as a few ballot issues. Now, my dad often skipped these elections, he wanted to let the party diehards work out for themselves who they thought best represented their issues. A more independent voter,...Lee mas

For more than six years, Empower Missouri has been a part of a new type of funding model with the Missouri Foundation for Health. In 2019 MFH announced their new focus for their advocacy funding, called the Exemplary Advocate Cohort. A new type of experience, this team would meet several times a year over the...Lee mas

Date: March 13, 2024To: Chairwoman Mary Elizabeth Coleman & Members, Senate Health & Welfare CommitteeFrom: Sarah Owsley, Advocacy Director, and Empower Missouri StaffRe: Opposition to SB 1336 Empower Missouri believes a Missouri without homelessness is possible. We convene a statewide coalition supporting the advancement of evidence-based public policy to increase the availability of affordable housing...Lee mas

Last week Misha taught us about different types of housing provisions that are available for various populations who are experiencing homelessness. One of the biggest myths surrounding homeless response is that Housing First provides no oversight and is a failure. The idea that some of us could be working so hard to keep a roof...Lee mas

As I look around the neighborhood I live in, I see mostly faces that look like mine. The same is likely true for the neighborhoods you live in. The reality for many of us is that the racial makeup of our neighborhoods continue to be impacted by the legacy of racist housing policies and redlining....Lee mas

Many years ago, before my time at Empower Missouri, I was a foster parent. While my time licensed was short and I had very few children move through my home, I was (and still am) passionate about easing the social conditions that fuel foster care. I remember learning how most children brought into foster care...Lee mas

It is undeniable that poverty is a problem in our state. Thirteen percent of Missourians live below the federal poverty line. In real numbers, that’s 772,922 of our neighbors who are deeply struggling to make ends meet every single day. Poverty causes physical and mental health problems. It tears apart families and increases the likelihood...Lee mas

In my years at Empower Missouri I have often heard from nonprofit staff at all levels that they know that policy change is integral to ending poverty, but also that they struggle to engage in it. Not-for-profit organizations are often functioning above their actual capacity with direct service work and other funded programming, and building...Lee mas