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 address throughout those decades. But 2020 has been an historic year in which wave upon wave of crisis arrived, putting stress on government, community, household, and our staff and volunteer...Read More

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 address throughout those decades. But 2020 has been an historic year in which wave upon wave of crisis arrived, placing stress on governmental, community, household, and our staff and volunteer...Read More

Just recently, a federal judge formally struck down the Trump Administration’s attempt to end food stamp benefits for nearly 700,000 unemployed people. In his ruling, the judge called the proposed rule change “arbitrary and capricious.” The Trump Administration tried to impose a new rule that would have severely limited the states’ option to waive the...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

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the connection between unemployment, poverty and food insecurity has been clear. One of the best indicators of food insecurity is poverty. At the end of 2019, Missouri’s food insecurity rate was 12% while its poverty level was 13.2%, both above the national average. At that point, according to...Read More

(Jefferson City, MO)……..Empower Missouri today applauded Congress for their passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) in a bipartisan and speedy fashion and President Trump for signing it. While the $2 Trillion package includes many provisions that will help Missourians affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, we believe more is still needed...Read More

Our core belief around hunger is very, very simple – you cannot have life or liberty or be allowed to pursue happiness if you are unsure of where your next meal comes from. Our communities cannot be strong if there are food-insecure members living in them. Nourishment, the simple act of being able to feed...Read More

Empower Missouri has repeatedly called you to action during the past year to oppose proposed regulations from the Trump Administration. Another dangerous proposal has been published in the Federal Register, open to public comment, so we must call you to stand in solidarity with families that are food insecure yet again. We recognize that The-Little-Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf...Read More

12% of our neighbors meet the official USDA definition of “low food security” or “very low food security”. One in eight rely on federal SNAP to help put some or all of the food on their table every day. We should call this what it is - hunger.Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESeptember 4, 2019 Contact: Jeanette Mott Oxford314-775-3261 (cell)[email protected]  (JEFFERSON CITY, MO)….. A report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reveals that while Missouri has made some progress on reducing food insecurity, the state level is still higher than the national average. The report documents that the 2018 food insecurity...Read More