Tag
homelessness

Last year, Vee Sanchez, Affordable Housing Policy Manager, provided an excellent overview of land banks and how they can be a part of the solution to address our affordable housing crisis. As the affordable housing shortage grows in Missouri, we need to take serious steps in addressing how we view the causes of homelessness, lack...
Read More
Date: March 13, 2024To: Chairwoman Mary Elizabeth Coleman & Members, Senate Health & Welfare CommitteeFrom: Sarah Owsley, Advocacy Director, and Empower Missouri StaffRe: Opposition to SB 1336 Empower Missouri believes a Missouri without homelessness is possible. We convene a statewide coalition supporting the advancement of evidence-based public policy to increase the availability of affordable housing...
Read More
Date: March 12, 2024To: Chairman Brown and members of the Senate Emerging Issues CommitteeFrom: Misha Smith, Affordable Housing Policy Manager, Empower MissouriRe: Opposition to HB 2062 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...
Read More
Issued and enforced during rare and extreme instances of community-wide crises and emergency, eviction moratoria (plural of moratorium) are a short term intervention federal, state and local government can employ to prevent the level of community destabilization that mass layoffs, mass evictions, and sudden, widespread homelessness would cause. In simple terms, an eviction moratorium prevents...
Read More
Homelessness is a widespread issue affecting both rural and urban communities across the United States, with over 650,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night, and many more that remain uncounted. This population includes a disproportionate number of veterans, youth, minorities and individuals with disabilities, underscoring systemic failures that contribute to homelessness. This crisis is...
Read More
Last week Misha taught us about different types of housing provisions that are available for various populations who are experiencing homelessness. One of the biggest myths surrounding homeless response is that Housing First provides no oversight and is a failure. The idea that some of us could be working so hard to keep a roof...
Read More
As homeless rates increase across the United States, it has become a policy focus across all levels of government. The most important place to start is the main cause of homelessness: the lack of affordable housing. In Missouri, for every 100 extremely low income renters, there are only 44 affordable units available. Missouri’s minimum wage...
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
In many ways, housing advocacy should be easy. Everyone needs housing to thrive, therefore it should be as easily attainable as possible. However in reality, many topics get mixed in and make the conversation much more complicated. Deeply ingrained systemic racism, generational wealth, market volatility impacting rental and purchase prices, and low wages create an...
Read More
We knew going into the legislative session that it would be a wild year. Unfortunately, wild years where very little gets done has become the normal legislative process in Missouri. It wasn’t designed to be this way. However, partisan infighting, electoral maps designed to favor one party, distrust in government and an overall breakdown in...
Read More
1 2
en_USEnglish