Empower Missouri is dedicated to ending poverty within our state. In our day-to-day work, we focus on three key areas: affordable housing, criminal justice, and…
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…
In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), sometimes known as the welfare reform bill. Buried deep within that sweeping…
First coined by sociologist Ruth Glass in the 1960s, gentrification has been part of the lexicon for those working in both economics and the affordable…
Earlier this week, the Missouri Senate Economic Development Committee heard Senate Bill 790 which would provide state tax credits to grocery stores that open in…
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…
JMO and I traveled to Washington D.C. October 21-23 to attend the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ (CBPP’s) 2019 TANF Advocate Conference. It was…
This session, five bills have been filed pertaining to funding for the Kansas City Police Department. For those who are not familiar with the issue,…
Last year, we advocated against HB 2085, a bill that would prevent households which receive TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) from withdrawing those benefits…
Later today, the House Committee on Downsizing Government will hear HB 2085, a bill that would prevent households which receive TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy…
As Joseph Llobera from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities stated in his report Child Support Cooperation Requirements in SNAP Are Unproven, Costly, and…
Since our founding in 1901 as the Missouri Conference on Charities and Corrections, Empower Missouri has been deeply concerned about the fate of women and…
In December we will be gearing up for the 2024 legislative session that will begin in January. Join us for this Friday Forum to get…
While crime has dropped across the nation and also in Missouri, our state is one of only eight states in which the prison population has…
Beginning in January 2022, Empower Missouri is proud to announce that we’ll be joining The Right Time Initiative as a community mobilization partner. The Right…
Click the image below to view a downloadable .pdf of our July newsletter.
With the General Assembly adjourning the 2019 Legislative Session on May 17, social justice advocates in Missouri now have more opportunity to focus on important…
Matthew Desmond describes eviction as both a cause and a condition of poverty. What does that mean, and how should Missouri respond? First, it is…
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…
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’…
The governor has called a special session next week for the legislature to debate the largest income tax cut in Missouri’s history. The governor’s proposal…
The pandemic and its impact on our economy hit all of us hard, and illuminated the struggles low-wage workers face in ways that we had…
In over 120 years, Empower Missouri has advanced and passed many successful policies. One of the most impactful was a significant decrease in the food…
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…
As I look back in my life, one specific policy has impacted nearly every decision I’ve ever made: Healthcare. I was a single mom during…
This past spring, as the school year was winding down, nonprofits across the country began working on plans to implement their summer feeding programs for…
Missouri workers can thank labor unions for the 5-day, 40-hour work week, unemployment benefits, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and workers compensation laws. Thanks…
Nearly 14,000 Missouri children were in the custody of the Missouri Children’s Division in 2022, with a variety of health and mental health needs. The…
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…
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s largest anti-hunger program and helps millions of people who are at risk for food insecurity every…
This past week Empower Missouri held its Annual Week of Action. In addition to 3 virtual days, this year we were able to be back…
It has been clear to criminal justice advocates in Empower Missouri’s network for some time that poverty has been criminalized. Among the ways we have…
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s newly released report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, documents a shortage of 7 million affordable and available…
In 2018, Missourians resoundingly passed a phased increase to the minimum wage to $12/hour over five years. When the bill passed, it was estimated that…
Food Insecurity in the U.S. and Here at Home in Missouri More than 34 million people experience food insecurity in the United States. That includes…
This special Weekly Perspective is a collaboration between MO Jobs with Justice Organizing Director Richard Von Glahn and Empower Missouri's Policy Manager Christine Woody. During…
With just four weeks to go in Missouri’s legislative session, our Senators and Representatives are hard at work debating legislation that could have long-term consequences…
Just a few weeks into the new school year, many families are learning that after two years of all Missouri public school children receiving free…
There was a slight delay in Congress’ work on the Build Back Better legislation these past couple weeks because Congress had to pass a continuing…
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…
I’ve been with Empower Missouri nearly 4 years now, and since I started every legislative session we work against work hour tracking for SNAP. It…
For years, we have been fighting a narrative that giving money and support to people trying to make ends meet without requiring them to work…
The 2023 legislative session will end today at 6PM, so there’s only a few hours remaining for the legislature to pass any final bills before…
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