Date: February 12th, 2024To: Chairman Hoskins and Members, Senate Economic Development and Tax PolicyFrom: Mallory Rusch, Executive Director, Empower MissouriRe: Our support for SB 822 Empower Missouri has spent more than 120 years fighting poverty in Missouri. Today, we come to present testimony on a bill which specifically targets our neighbors with the lowest incomes....Read More

As I look around the neighborhood I live in, I see mostly faces that look like mine. The same is likely true for the neighborhoods you live in. The reality for many of us is that the racial makeup of our neighborhoods continue to be impacted by the legacy of racist housing policies and redlining....Read More

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 Coalition every month. This coalition is made up of individuals and organizations who are working to ensure every Missourian has access to safe, affordable, stable housing. On behalf of our...Read More

I am so grateful to be a part of the Empower Missouri policy team as the newest Affordable Housing Policy Manager. I have been involved with the organization, first as a coalition member and then as a board member, before joining the staff, and I knew this was where I wanted to be. In this...Read More

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned HB 1606, a bill with language that Empower Missouri advocated against during the 2022 session. Our advocacy, among many others, helped to shape the lawsuit, Byrd v State of Missouri, that led to Tuesday’s decision. Because of the work by Empower Missouri, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Eden...Read More

It seems hard to believe that we’re only a month away from the start of a new year, and a new legislative session. Pre-filing opens for the Missouri legislature today, a process where legislators from both chambers can begin filing their bills ahead of the 2024 session. Bills that are filed on December 1st are...Read More

Darlene S. has faced challenges in housing her entire life, but things have gotten progressively harder in recent years. After experiencing two evictions, the most recent being a decade ago, she has faced mounting barriers to housing. Combined with increased rents and requirements of 3 times rent in income, renting anything became impossible. Darlene has...Read More

Early this month we launched our first Housing Justice Fellowship, in partnership with Springfield Tenants Unite. For our pilot cohort, we brought together 12 tenants with varied experiences renting in Springfield. Some have prior experience with tenant organizing, some do not, but all are committed to learning how to organize their community to win policy...Read More

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...Read More

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...Read More