The Housing Crisis: A Community Issue Affordable housing is one of those phrases that is often seen as a problem for families earning low incomes; however, all Missourians have felt the impacts of the housing crisis. In 2024, Missouri experienced the largest rent increase in the country, and the cost of homeownership continued to rise....Lee mas

Date: March 5th, 2025 To: Rep. Dean Van Schoiack, Chair, and members of the Special Committee on   Rural IssuesFrom: Misha Smith, Affordable Housing Policy Manager, Empower MissouriRe: Opposition to HB 595 Founded in 1901, Empower Missouri is the largest anti-poverty advocacy organization in the state. As part of our work, we convene a statewide Affordable...Lee mas

Date: March 3rd, 2025 To: Sen. Rusty Black, Chair, and members of the Local Government, Elections, and Pensions CommitteeFrom: Misha Smith, Affordable Housing Policy Manager, Empower MissouriRe: Opposition to HB 595 Founded in 1901, Empower Missouri is the largest anti-poverty advocacy organization in the state. As part of our work, we convene a statewide Affordable Housing...Lee mas

Date: April 4th, 2024To: Chair Narayan, and members of the Public Safety Committee – City of St. LouisFrom: Eric Reiter, Community Justice Practicum Intern, Empower MissouriRe: Our support for re-envisioning the Workhouse Since our founding in 1901, Empower Missouri has advocated for a vision in which all Missourians have food, shelter, and justice. Because of...Lee mas

Date: February 13th, 2024To: Rep. Falkner, Chair, and Members, House Committee on Local GovernmentFrom: Mallory Rusch, Executive Director, Empower MissouriRe: Support for HB 2065 Founded in 1901, Empower Missouri is the largest anti-poverty advocacy organization in the state. As part of our work, we organize a statewide Affordable Housing Coalition. This coalition is made up...Lee mas

Missouri has a severe affordable housing shortage. Our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition show 72% of very low income households in Missouri overpay for their housing, and are housing cost burdened. Cost burden occurs when a household pays more than 30% of their income towards housing costs alone, leaving very little for...Lee mas

Empower Missouri has been saying it for years: Homelessness in the United States is a solvable crisis. It is unacceptable that our neighbors work full time jobs and are still unable to cover their basic necessities, like nutrition and housing. According to the 2021 Out of Reach report, parents in Missouri need to work a...Lee mas

El Día del Trabajo está en la parte superior de mi lista de "Celebración de las fiestas más hipócritas". En la mayoría de los días festivos, un gran número de personas realiza alguna acción relacionada con el significado del día festivo: practicar la gratitud el Día de Acción de Gracias, regalar flores a un amante el Día de San Valentín, ver el "resplandor rojo de los cohetes" de los fuegos artificiales o mostrar un .. .Lee mas

Dado que el enfoque de Empower Missouri es garantizar las necesidades humanas básicas y la igualdad de justicia para todas las personas en nuestro estado, recibimos bastantes llamadas de personas cuya seguridad alimentaria y de vivienda está en peligro. Esta semana recibí una llamada de un inquilino de bajos ingresos que sabe que la moratoria federal de desalojos tiene ...Lee mas

Esta semana tuve el honor de sentarme en la Sala de Audiencias 5 con algunos organizadores de viviendas realmente estelares mientras ofrecíamos testimonio contra el Proyecto de Ley de la Cámara de Representantes (HB) 1315. Este proyecto de ley tiene como objetivo acortar el ya rápido cronograma de los desalojos. El patrocinador, el representante Hardy Billington, testificó que era propietario y que ocasionalmente tenía que desalojar ...Lee mas