Over the last three months, we have published a series of blog posts investigating the housing crisis in the United States. In our first piece, we defined the current crisis. In the second post, we examined the economic factors that created and are sustaining the problem. And in our most recent post, we looked at...Lee mas
“We Are Here to Stay”: The Fight for Cedarwood & Rosewood Tenants Jami has spent her life fighting for dignity in a world that often seems to forget people like her. Born with spinal muscular dystrophy and diagnosed at the age of four, doctors predicted she wouldn’t survive beyond five years old. But Jami defied...Lee mas
PURPOSEAre you passionate about housing justice and want to make a real impact in Missouri? Empower Missouri is looking for an Affordable Housing Intern or Practicum Student to support advocacy, education, and organizing efforts to expand access to safe, affordable housing. Interns and practicum students will gain valuable experience in community outreach, public policy, and...Lee mas
Zachary’s story begins in Topeka, Kansas, where he was born into a world shaped by poverty and housing insecurity. For Zach, housing justice is deeply personal. His parents divorced shortly after he was born. So he, his younger brother, and two older sisters primarily lived with his mother in Central Topeka, a neighborhood dotted with...Lee mas
The Missouri Housing Trust Fund (MHTF) has played a pivotal role in addressing the housing needs of the state’s most vulnerable populations for more than 30 years. Administered by the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC), the MHTF provides essential funding for various housing-related services, including rental assistance, emergency aid, home repairs, and the construction and...Lee mas
The 2025 Missouri legislative session ended last week with some controversy and tension as the Senate invoked Previous Question, or “PQ”, to cut off debate. The Senate employed this “nuclear option” to force a vote on two bills that were in direct contradiction to laws passed by the majority of Missouri voters in the November...Lee mas
The past two installments of the four-part housing education series have defined the housing crisis and the economic policies that sustain it. Restrictive zoning laws, a struggling construction industry, and decades of a lack of investment in affordable housing have brought us here, but current policies continue to deepen the crisis. Today, we’ll look at...Lee mas
For the past several months, a growing coalition of tenant leaders, housing advocates, legal experts, and community leaders in Springfield has been working toward a game-changing goal: securing a Right to Counsel (RTC) for tenants facing eviction. The problem is clear—eviction courts are fundamentally unbalanced. Across the country, landlords almost always have legal representation, while...Lee mas
This week, Governor Kehoe signed SB 4, an omnibus utility bill that changes financing for utility companies. The bill adds more ways for utility companies to shift costs to consumers and increase utility bills. Empower Missouri denounces this change for these reasons: Consumers Council of Missouri estimates that SB 4 will raise utility bills by...Lee mas
Last month, Empower Missouri launched a new educational series on the American housing crisis. In our March piece, we focused on sharing statistics on the decrease of new home builds across the country and the resulting impact on both renters and aspiring homeowners. Today, we’re going to look at some of the underlying factors that...Lee mas