Did you know that September is Hunger Action Month? Led by Feeding America, Hunger Action Month is an annual nationwide campaign to spread awareness and inspire action to end hunger in America. In Missouri 1 in 9 people, and 1 in 8 children, face hunger, and we hope you’ll take action with us! Four Ways...Lee mas

As we continue to grow our organization and our impact throughout the state, we are excited to announce seven new additions to our Board of Directors! Our Board is a dedicated group of anti-poverty advocates who are deeply committed to our work of engaging the public in the legislative process to change laws and policies...Lee mas

In November Empower Missouri will host its annual Anti-Poverty Advocates Summit, bringing together advocates from across the state to explore the many ways poverty impacts our neighbors’ lives, and how effective policy change can serve as a long-term solution. We’re excited to welcome Taj Suleyman to give our Tuesday keynote! About Taj Taj Suleyman is a...Lee mas

A Brief Overview of America’s Housing Crisis in 2023 The scale of America’s housing crisis, like everything else these days, is unprecedented. The most recent numbers on our country’s housing and homelessness crisis are sobering: Nationally, there is a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available apartments for Extremely Low Income (ELI) households – that...Lee mas

In November Empower Missouri will host its annual Anti-Poverty Advocates Summit, bringing together advocates from across the state to explore the many ways poverty impacts our neighbors’ lives, and how effective policy change can serve as a long-term solution. We’re excited to welcome Annie Watson to open the Summit with our morning keynote! About Annie...Lee mas

Approximately 3.7 million people in the United States are on community supervision (probation or parole, also referred to as community corrections), which is nearly double the number of people who are incarcerated in prison or jail. Despite the large number of people on supervision, the many problems associated with parole and probation do not receive...Lee mas

Yesterday evening, Governor Parson vetoed SB 189, a criminal justice omnibus bill that included a number of provisions that Empower Missouri worked on last session.  You can read his veto statement here. This was the only bill passed during the 2023 legislative session to be vetoed by the governor.  We are deeply disappointed in this...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

How much would a person have to earn to afford rent and utilities on a modest 2 bedroom apartment in Missouri today? According to this year’s Out of Reach Report, released by our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Missouri’s average fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $964 a month. Working...Lee mas

Empower Missouri often describes itself as the oldest and largest anti-poverty organization in Missouri. We have over 120 years working on legislative policy change, and a network of thousands of community members across the state working to advance evidence based public policy to end poverty. In those years, we’ve had exciting wins and faced difficult...Lee mas