“Justice Has No Timetable; It Just Has a Destination”

The 2020 General Election has come and gone, although the vote counting and legal actions over a variety of issues are apt to continue for…

A Clean Slate Will Offer Thousands of Missourians Better Access to Safe, Affordable Housing

Among Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are the lowest and arguably most important necessities humans require to exist; physiological needs. These include basic essentials such as…

A Week of Activism in the Capitol

In 2017, Empower Missouri’s annual conference theme was Persisting and Organizing to Win. During the week of February 10, 2020, coalitions staffed by Empower Missouri…

Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis with the Housing Trust Fund

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…

Addressing the Crisis of Homelessness in Missouri

In many ways, housing advocacy should be easy. Everyone needs housing to thrive, therefore it should be as easily attainable as possible. However in reality,…

Affordable Housing Coalition Makes Progress In Improving, Reinstituting LIHTC Program

In 2019, the Affordable Housing Coalition identified the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) as a key issue to target. While flawed, this program is…

Affordable Housing is Out of Reach for Missourians

In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in Missouri, full-time workers need to earn $16.00 per hour. This is Missouri’s…

Affordable Housing Is Out Of Reach In Missouri For Low-Wage Workers

In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in Missouri, full-time workers need to earn $16.66 per hour. This is Missouri’s…

Affordable Housing is Out of Reach in Missouri for Workers With Low Wages

(JEFFERSON CITY, MO)…..In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in Missouri, full-time workers need to earn $16.07 per hour. This…

Affordable Housing Is Still Out of Reach for Many Missourians, But The President’s Infrastructure Plan May Help Solve The State’s Housing Crisis

Over one year after the start of the global pandemic, we are still learning of the devastating impacts COVID-19 has had on our society. One…

Another government shutdown is on the horizon. You can help us avoid it.

To my ear, “sequester” is a lovely word. Despite what the dictionary says about its synonyms like segregate, seclude and withdraw or its chemical meaning…

Anxiety Increases Among Everyday Missourians, Yet U.S. Senate Takes Its August Recess

Since Empower Missouri’s focus is on securing basic human needs and equal justice for every person in our state, we receive quite a few calls…

As Missouri COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise, Federal Leaders Need To Step Up To Protect Communities

(JEFFERSON CITY, MO)…On September 15th, Empower Missouri and the Coalition on Human Needs released a new report showing Missouri is losing ground against the coronavirus.…

Building Power in Community – Tenant Unions, Organizations, and Associations

As we continue to see rising rental costs and the highest level of inflation seen in 40 years, millions of renters nationwide are increasingly struggling…

Capitol Recap: We Still Have A Chance To Pass Priority Legislation in 2021

The legislature is taking their annual Spring Break this week, which is widely considered to be “halftime” of the legislative session. We’ve spent the last…

Citing Public Health Concerns in COVID-19 Pandemic, Organizations Call for Moratorium on Utility Disconnections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 9, 2020 (JEFFERSON CITY, MO)…Citing the need to “protect the health and safety of the general public during the ever-worsening COVID-19…

Community Land Trusts: An Affordable Housing Solution?

America is in the midst of an epidemic. Rising home prices has increased the prices of rental properties, creating a general lack of affordable housing…

Empower Missouri Delivers Letter Encouraging Re-Institution of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) statewide match

Jefferson City, MO — On February 20th, 2020, Empower Missouri, along with more than 100 other individuals and organizations, signed and delivered a letter to…

Empower Missouri files public comments for disparate impact rule

Public comment letters are an increasingly effective tool in legislative advocacy at the federal level, with advocates across the country utilizing this format as a…

Empower Missouri Holds Virtual Week of Action To Mobilize United Action On Legislative Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 19th, 2021 (JEFFERSON CITY, MO)...Empower Missouri and its network of supporters in Missouri will be joining in a coordinated Week of…

Empower Missouri Praises the Missouri Housing Development Commission on Its Decision to Re-Institute Low Income Housing Tax Credit

(Jefferson City, MO)…Empower Missouri is applauding the decision by the Parson Administration to bring back Missouri’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to increase…

Empowering You April 2019 Newsletter

Read and download the full Newsletter below, or choose a specific story from the list.

Empowering You Newsletter | July 2019

Click the image below to view a downloadable .pdf of our July newsletter.

Empowering You Newsletter | June 2019

Empowering You September Newsletter

The September Empowering You Newsletter can be downloaded by clicking on the thumbnail below, and you can explore it's contents by clicking on any of…

Eviction Conversation Must Include Affordable Housing Stock

This week I was honored to sit in Hearing Room 5 with some really stellar housing organizers as we offered testimony against House Bill (HB)…

Eviction, Utility Shutoff Moratoriums Can Slow COVID-19 Spread. Missouri needs them.

While Missouri hasn’t had a unified plan to tamp down the spread of COVID-19 in our state, municipalities have put in place many different response…

Evictions and Homelessness: Exploring Right to Counsel and Mandatory Mediation as Policy Interventions

Evictions are one of the more visible symptoms of the compounding issues plaguing housing as we know it today, most glaringly the housing affordability crisis…

Forty Percent of Missourians Have Lost Income in Pandemic: U.S. Senate Must Stop Abandoning Them, Take Action NOW

On September 10, the U.S. Senate took up and failed to pass a $650 billion package of relief for our nation of 331 million people,…

Gov. Mike Parson Must Act Now to Protect the Most Vulnerable Missourians

As a statewide advocacy organization, Empower Missouri is keeping an eye on what the state is doing or not doing regarding the issues we work…

Housing First Hasn’t Had a Fair Shot in Missouri – You Can’t Shovel While It’s Still Snowing

Last week, I offered testimony against a pair of bills in the Missouri House and Senate aimed at reducing homelessness. I first celebrated with the…

Housing is the Key

Empower Missouri’s Affordable Housing Coalition, a multi-disciplinary team that was formed after our 2018 annual conference, met last week in Columbia to begin articulating clear…

How we’re working to increase affordable housing in Missouri in 2020

Empower Missouri’s Affordable Housing Coalition recently released their 2020 legislative priorities. You can read it here. Some things on the list are very straight forward,…

If You’re A Tenant Getting Evicted In Missouri, You May Have Legal Grounds To Fight It

Since the founding of America, our constitution has been an important guiding document for the country and each state. The Bill of Rights demonstrates a…

Incarceration Cannot Be Our Solution For Solving Homelessness

Homelessness and poverty are not crimes. However, in many communities across Missouri, it is treated like one. Police involvement in the form of ‘camp sweeps’…

Legislative Session Update

The major take-away for me from the 2019 Legislative Session is the importance of working in coalition with others for evidence-based public policies. Empower Missouri…

Lessons Learned: Anti-Poverty Advocates Summit 2021

Since 1901, the pinnacle of Empower Missouri’s work each year has been its Annual Conference. In fact, for the first decade, that was the bulk…

Long-term Investments Are Needed in Affordable Housing To Help Missouri’s Struggling Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout have underscored the need for a strong housing safety net in the United States. COVID-19 was an economic…

Majority Leader McConnell’s Plan Doesn’t Meet Needs of Families in Missouri

(JEFFERSON CITY, MO)……After more than two months of delay, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Caucus have finally released their proposal for the next round…

McConnell’s HEALS Act Falls Far Short Of Relief Struggling Missourians Need

TAKE ACTION NOW After more than two months of delay, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Caucus have finally released their proposal for the next…

Meeting the Needs of Our Communities with Land Banks

Missouri is short of nearly 115,000 affordable and available housing units needed to meet the housing needs of Extremely Low Income Missouri families. Of these…

Missouri could make housing policy more fair – here’s how

Our neighbors who don’t have adequate resources to meet their basic needs often rely on state and federal programs for assistance. When it comes to…

Missouri Falls Short In Providing an Adequate Supply of Rental Housing For The State’s Poorest Renters

The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s newly released report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes 2021, finds a housing shortage of over 122,000 affordable…

Missouri Legislature Wraps: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

It’s the third week of May, which means that you’re hearing crickets from hundreds of lobbyists and advocates across the state who are taking a…

Missouri Needs Food and Housing Assistance NOW!

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal lawmakers have passed multiple pieces of legislation to provide emergency relief and enhance the economy. Within those first…

Our Advocacy Awards Brunch Honored Leaders in Our Fight

Last Saturday, June 11th, Empower Missouri supporters, coalition members, staff and other guests gathered at the Piper Palm House in St. Louis to honor our…

Pandemic and Recession Batter Missouri; Your Help Is Essential To Progress for Justice

Empower Missouri has fought for all Missourians to have basic human needs and equal justice since 1901, and there have undoubtedly been many challenges to…

President Biden and Governor Parson Must Do More To Protect Missouri Renters 

Legal scholars and housing advocates alike have been watching the CDC eviction moratorium closely. I’ll let the lawyers work their own theories on whether the…

Recapping the 2022 Legislative Session

We knew going into the legislative session that it would be a wild year. Unfortunately, wild years where very little gets done has become the…

Sign on to Tell Federal Lawmakers to include Crucial Additional Aid in Next COVID-19 Package

Even though the final two weeks of the 2020 Legislative Session tempts us to focus all attention on Jefferson City just now, social justice advocates…

State Lawmakers Must Immediately Begin To Work on Legislation That Will Protect Missourians

Missouri lawmakers returned to the Capitol in Jefferson City on January 6th with challenges posed by an ongoing pandemic. The Missouri legislative session began at…

Structural oppression in housing and how you can help

42 days to make your voice heard for housing justice.  The housing segregation with which we are all living was purposefully designed and codified in…

The 2020 Legislative Session has begun

Each year as Legislative Session begins, there is a lot of “crystal ball gazing” in our state capital. The rumors come fast and furious, and…

The Biden Administration Must Prioritize Affordable Housing In Its Infrastructure Package

In 2018, organizations across the country like Empower Missouri started to elevate the conversation around affordable housing. We wanted housing to be a major issue…

The Build Back Better Act Will Give Thousands Of Missourians With Low Income More Access To Affordable Housing

For months, Empower Missouri and our allies in Missouri have been urging our federal representatives to pass the Build Back Better Act, an opportunity to…

The National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s Report is Clear: Affordable Housing Is A Public Health Issue

COVID-19 provides a stark reminder that affordable housing is a public health issue as well as a moral imperative. When households cannot afford their rent,…

The Need for Emergency Rental Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

There is no doubt, we are in unprecedented times. The federal government has passed three significant coronavirus response bills. Included in these packages have been…

The Rent is too Damn High!

While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in financial instability and economic hardship for many households, unprecedented supports – including a national emergency rental assistance program and…

Tsunami of Evictions Projected; Our Immediate Advocacy Is Crucially Important

It is no surprise to anyone I interact with, but I really love data. In college, I had a professor thank me for always coming…

U.S. Senate Should Get #backtowork to Honor Labor Day; Missouri Needs Robust Coronavirus Relief NOW

Labor Day is at the top of my “Most Hypocritical Holiday Observance” list. On most holidays, large numbers of people take some action that is…

Victims of Violence are Not a Nuisance

Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, based on a book by the same name written by Celeste Ng, does a wonderful job looking at systematic issues our…

We Can Solve The Housing Crisis By Passing The Build Back Better Act

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…

We’re hitting the Road! Empower Missouri is Spending Our Summer Traveling The State Talking About Anti-Poverty Public Policy

I often describe myself as a grassroots organizer at my core. I really believe that there is no ethical way to advocate for legislative changes…

Weekly Perspective March 15th, 2019

The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s newly released report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes 2019, finds a housing shortage of nearly seven million affordable…

What is disparate impact, and how does it affect Missouri?

In August 2019, Empower Missouri’s Executive Director, Jeanette Mott Oxford, offered testimony in a special hearing on Criminal Justice. “I think sometimes we wish we…

What is TANF?

TANF, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, is a federal cash assistance program for low income families with children that provides for basic needs. Families…

When Political Spin Becomes Gaslighting: The Necessity of Truth-Telling in Policy Advocacy

In recent days, some very troubling developments have happened in federal government that threaten to deepen the level of policy violence already happening to racial…

Winter Utility Disconnection Moratorium Needed To Protect Public Health; Add Your Voice Today

As we first shared with you on November 20, Empower Missouri has been convening community groups since late October to seek a way to prevent…

Winter Weather Adds New Survival Challenges For Missourians Struggling with Pandemic, Recession

As the days grow shorter and temperatures drop, advocates from Empower Missouri and several ally organizations have been meeting weekly to discuss what we can…

Your Donation Matters To Help Support Our Mission To Fight For Basic Human Needs and Equal Justice For All Missourians

Empower Missouri has fought for all Missourians to have basic human needs and equal justice since 1901, and there have undoubtedly been many challenges to…