For kids in Missouri who receive a free or reduced price school meal, the summer can be one of the hungriest times of the year. During the summer months, these children do not have access to this free, healthy, and well-balanced meal each and every day. Instead, the families that rely on those meals, that...Read More

At Empower Missouri, our goal is to empower Missourians to end poverty and make our state a better and more equitable place to be. We strive to include people from communities across the state in everything we do; their voices are at the heart of our work. For the food security coalition specifically, that means...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

We’re nearing the end of Hunger Action Month, and to wrap things up, we’re bringing you more resources and information to aid in our continued fight against hunger in Missouri!  Led by Feeding America, Hunger Action Month is an annual nationwide campaign to spread awareness and inspire action to end hunger in America. 12% of...Read More

We’re nearly through Hunger Action Month, and this week, we are highlighting one of our (many) incredible partners in the Food Security Coalition, KC Healthy Kids! Andrea Clark, Director of Food System Planning at KC Healthy Kids, has been a member of the Food Security Coalition for the past three years representing the Greater KC...Read More

As advocates in Missouri much of our time is spent working the halls of Jefferson City, especially from January-May. Many of us use summer as a time to relax and take a breath. This summer, though, has not been a time of relaxation. Our work has merely shifted from Jefferson City to Washington DC.  This...Read More

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 discourages them from working. This is simply untrue and results in policies that are based on unfounded biases and increases the risk of people of all ages and abilities failing...Read More

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 the clock runs out.  There will be several opportunities over the next week to debrief the session with Empower Missouri.  On Monday, look for a special email with our end-of-session...Read More

Are we really debating whether it is worth spending money to feed our children? Missouri’s kids deserve three meals a day without demanding they prove they are poor enough to get fed. For most of the pandemic, the Federal Government covered the cost of school lunches for every child in a public school in America....Read More

Getting a raise or landing a better paying job sounds like great news, especially if your income is low enough that you need additional support to meet your family’s basic needs. But that pay increase comes with a big catch for families who use programs with income thresholds – programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition...Read More