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 and ethnic minorities, especially among individuals and households with low incomes. It is crucial that policy advocates take note of these and organize in diverse coalitions with personally impacted people...Read More

(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 affordable housing for people who are struggling to keep shelter  within the state. The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) voted unanimously to restart the program last Friday. Empower Missouri believes...Read More

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, rocked to the core by the coronavirus pandemic and related economic downturn. This is a sliver of the $3.4 trillion in aid approved by the U.S. House in May and...Read More

(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. Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 cases have continued to increase all over the state. Missouri is up nine percent while nationally there has been an average decline of...Read More

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 back to an evidence base when making policy recommendations, a tendency which has served me well at Empower Missouri. I enjoy dissecting data and holding on to it, conceptualizing it...Read More

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, they cannot afford to shelter in place or self-isolate, which puts them and everyone else at greater risk. Empower Missouri is encouraging our network to reach out to Senators Blunt...Read More

(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 is Missouri’s 2020 Housing Wage, revealed in a national report released Tuesday. The report, Out of Reach, was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a research...Read More

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 significant changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), expanded unemployment, and stimulus payments to most American families. However, a new report from our partners at the National Low Income...Read More

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 on as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Empower Missouri has always done, we continue to work in coalition around these issues and advocate for evidence-based public policy wherever...Read More

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) 1315.  This bill aims to shorten the already lightning-fast timeline on evictions. The sponsor, Rep. Hardy Billington, testified that he was a landlord and that he occasionally had to evict...Read More