We promise to advocate for the people we support and our workforce.

How We’re Doing

It’s crucial for us to educate our legislators about the needs of the disability community and the essential workforce behind them. In FY22, we were able to advocate for a 10% increase in government funding and 20% in Missouri Department of Mental health funding.

We enrolled 727 advocates into our advocate network, utilizing this network to engage a total of 92% of the Missouri House Budget and Senate Appropriations committees members, contacting them via phone calls, virtual meetings, and in-person meetings to educate them about Easterseals’ mission.

We continue to expand our impact in Kansas, currently working on developing and soon implementing a new public policy strategy for this region. In FY22, in collaboration with provider organizations in the area, we met with 16 Kansas legislators to discuss our mission and expansion into the state.

How You Can Help

Each Friday, we send an advocacy newsletter that helps you stay up to date on key disability issues and lets you know what action you can take to help our cause. You can stay informed, take action when needed, and share important advocacy information from the emails. If you have questions or ideas about how to enhance our advocacy efforts in your community, email us at onwardtogether@esmw.org