In my years at Empower Missouri I have often heard from nonprofit staff at all levels that they know that policy change is integral to ending poverty, but also that they struggle to engage in it. Not-for-profit organizations are often functioning above their actual capacity with direct service work and other funded programming, and building...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

Empower Missouri often describes itself as the oldest and largest anti-poverty organization in Missouri. We have over 120 years working on legislative policy change, and a network of thousands of community members across the state working to advance evidence based public policy to end poverty. In those years, we’ve had exciting wins and faced difficult...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

Missouri is short of nearly 115,000 affordable and available housing units needed to meet the housing needs of Extremely Low Income Missouri families. Of these 115,000 ELI households, the overwhelming majority, 85%, consist of workers, individuals with disabilities and seniors. These vulnerable households often need to pick between keeping the lights on, keeping their household...Read More

We’re headed into the final two weeks of Missouri’s legislative session, which means that legislators from every corner of the state are in a mad dash to amend their bills onto any related piece of legislation that is moving. More than 2,200 pieces of legislation were filed this session across both chambers, and with ten...Read More

With just four weeks to go in Missouri’s legislative session, our Senators and Representatives are hard at work debating legislation that could have long-term consequences for all Missourians. Many of these bills have had the benefit of long committee hearings, with many folks traveling from around the state to speak with their legislators about the...Read More

Missouri is in the midst of reckoning with one of the many long term consequences of mass incarceration: a rapidly growing number of elders incarcerated in state prisons. The aging prison population primarily consists of individuals who received lengthy sentences for offenses committed decades ago. Increasing numbers of elderly incarcerated people leads to significant increases...Read More

In 2022, we saw the worst inflation in nearly 40 years. Inflation, rising property taxes and rising rents are leaving many of our neighbors, particularly seniors and individuals with disabilities, on the brink of ruin. The economic uncertainties following 2020 have made it more likely for the costs of day-to-day living to exceed the income...Read More

A bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers have proposed evidence-based policy that will help close to half of Missouri’s growing families. They seek to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to a full year – to give one year of uninterrupted access to healthcare after a person’s pregnancy ends.   Despite the fact that the bills...Read More