An interesting question crossed my mind the other day – What would Missouri look like without Empower Missouri?
Empower Missouri is the oldest and largest anti-poverty advocacy organization in our state. In 1901, a group of 41 Missourians came together at the YMCA in St. Louis to discuss critical, deep-rooted societal issues. This group continued to grow, organize, and meet annually. Over the century that followed, collective action by this group led to the establishment of the Missouri Children’s Code Commission in 1915 (that would give rise to what we know today as Missouri Child Services) and several other foundations to Missouri’s social safety fabric, such as the Missouri Commission on Human Rights in 1957, the Missouri Housing Trust Fund in 1994, and Family Development Accounts in 1999.
First known as the Missouri Conference on Charities and Corrections then the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, this group – now known as Empower Missouri – has carried on this legacy. More recent additions to this rich history include:
- Collaborating with a coalition in 2008 to modernize the “Circuit Breaker” tax credit by increasing the income eligibility and credit amount for older adults and those with disabilities to stay in their homes as property taxes rise due to inflation.
- Obtaining an executive order in 2016 for Fair Chance Hiring, which opened up 51,000 state jobs to formerly incarcerated applicants.
- Creating the WIC Farmer’s Market program in 2022, a new way to connect new mothers and young children to fresh, local produce using their WIC benefits.
- Supporting efforts in 2023 that extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to a full year, benefiting over 40% of women in Missouri who rely on Medicaid for prenatal care and delivery.
- Removing the crack/cocaine sentencing disparity from Missouri law in 2023, an unjust policy long used to impose harsher punishment on Black and economically disadvantaged drug users.
- Securing our state’s enrollment in SUN Bucks in 2024, the Summer EBT program that provides families qualifying for free or reduced-price school meals with $120 each summer to supplement their grocery budget when school is not in session.
- Leading a campaign that passed Clean Slate legislation this year, reducing barriers to jobs and housing for over 200,000 Missourians by automating expungement of past drug records.
- Consistently protecting Missouri’s Initiative Petition process – most recently just this month – to ensure our citizens continue to enjoy their Missouri constitutional right to direct democracy.
Could those 41 Missourians at the St. Louis YMCA in 1901 ever have imagined that they’d be the catalyst of 125 years of protecting and supporting our state’s most vulnerable children, women, men, and families? Is it even imaginable what Missouri would look like today without these unsung heroes?
Únete a nosotros
This year we carry on this tradition while reflecting and celebrating our amazing history at our 125th Annual Anti-Poverty Advocates Summit y 125th Anniversary Dinner.
Happening October 1st and 2nd at the Courtyard by Marriott in Columbia, this year’s Summit will feature our state’s leading experts and advocates from Build Missouri Health, Columbia Tenants Union, Community Health Commission of Missouri, Embody Lib, Fair Chance KC, GOTURSIX, HealthCare on Wheels, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Lincoln University, Missouri Immigration Policy Coalition/SLU Center for Social Action, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Operation Liberation, Some Things Must Be Heard, Springfield Tenants Unite, United 4 Children, Washington University, and more!
Sponsorship
Would you like to join and also raise awareness of your organization or business? We’re offering a 125th Anniversary sponsorship package for the Summit and Dinner as well as our inaugural Give MO Day on Missouri Day, October 21 (more soon!). Benefits vary by level and include:
- Tickets to the Summit and Dinner
- Logo placement on programs, registration page, slideshows, in-event signage, our 125th Anniversary webpage, and our upcoming 125th Anniversary Impact Report
- Material about your business or organization in attendee gift bags
- Social media spotlights and other recognition reaching over 9,000 followers across our Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn
- Recognition in promotional emails and printed materials sent to our audience of over 6,000 subscribers
- And more!
Sponsors already include LISC KC, Health Forward Foundation, Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council, Sterling Bank, United Healthcare, Missouri Budget Project, and Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice – we’d love for you to join these supporters!
Join the legacy. Join the movement. Join us in building the future of Missouri at the Courtyard by Marriott in Columbia on October 1st and 2nd. You never know where it may lead 125 years from now.
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