In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal lawmakers have passed multiple pieces of legislation to provide emergency relief and enhance the economy. Within those first few pieces of legislation, Congress began to address the impending increase in food insecurity by implementing important waivers and new programs to help individuals and families access much needed support...Read More

The 2020 Legislative Session came to an end on May 15th, amidst the special challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite having floor debate time reduced by about six weeks due to the public health emergency, 51 bills became “Truly Agreed and Finally Passed” (TAFP) during the abbreviated session. We were disappointed to see many of...Read More

(Jefferson City, MO) …. On Thursday, Missouri announced it will resume work-hour documentation requirements in August for desperately poor Missourians receiving help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). That is at least a month before the timing called for in the SNAP program by the Families First...Read More

Happy Juneteenth! Empower Missouri is among organizations that has begun a discussion about amending our personnel manual to create a paid staff holiday for Juneteenth. We have not adopted that policy yet, but the deliberative process is just one of the many ways that our staff and Board are attempting to fulfill the mandate of...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

Even though the final two weeks of the 2020 Legislative Session tempts us to focus all attention on Jefferson City just now, social justice advocates in Missouri cannot afford to do so. We must keep one eye focused on DC, because the first half of May is a crucial window of time in which we...Read More

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of rule changes and new waivers have taken place within the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps). Empower Missouri is grateful for the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as our federal delegation...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

On Nov. 27th, 2019, Empower Missouri submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding their proposed change to how SNAP benefit allocations are calculated. Please use the link below to download or view our comment. Empower Missouri USDA Comment – State Heating and Cooling Standard Utility AllowancesDownloadRead More