Recent Activities
Lunch & Learn with Consumers Council of Missouri
September 28
Speakers:
Sandra A. Padgett, executive director, Consumers Council of Missouri
Jacqueline Hutchinson, director of advocacy, Consumers Council of Missouri
Welcome Neighbor Supper
September 27
WEAR ORANGE Weekend
On the weekend of June 2-4, 2023, people came together at events from coast to coast to honor victims and survivors of gun violence and to spread awareness about this preventable crisis. Women’s Voices Lock It for Love volunteers participated in two local Wear Orange events to distribute FREE gun locks and provide gun safety information.
Left: Karen Cloyd and Cathy Gilbert at the Wear Orange Prayer Service of Remembrance and Lament hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of MO at Tower Grove Park.
Right: Joanne Kelly and Mary Schuman at the Gun Violence Awareness and Prevention March at Emmanuel Episcopal Church hosted by Churches Together.
Women’s Voices Submits Testimony on MO Clean Slate Initiative (HB 352)
March 27, 2023
Criminal Legal System Reform Task Force co-chairs Anne Litwin and Mary Schuman submitted testimony to the MO House Judiciary Committee in support of HB 352.
HB 352 would establish an automatic record-clearing process for the closing of certain records not excluded from eligibility for expungement and would create the “Missouri Expungement Fund,” which would be dedicated to the creation, operation, and maintenance of the program. Read the full bill text here.
Members heard from speakers Phil Christofanelli, MO State Representative, District 104 and Jeff Smith, executive director, Missouri Workforce Housing Association about Missouri’s Clean Slate Initiative at the March 24 Lunch & Learn.
If you missed the program, you can watch the recorded Lunch & Learn: MO Clean Slate Initiative video here.
MO House Bill 352 was heard by the MO House Judiciary Committee on Monday, March 27.
Support passage of HB 352:
- Contact your elected representative to let him/her know you support HB 352.
- Contact Judiciary Chairman, Rep. David Evans and Judiciary Vice-Chairman, Representative, Rudy Veit, to urge a vote on HB 352.
- Contact individual members of the MO House Judiciary Committee (you will need to scroll down and choose “Judiciary Committee” from the committee list) to urge them to support HB 352.
- Contact Rep. Dean Plocher, Speaker of the House & Rep. Jonathan Patterson, Majority Floor Leader to advocate for HB 352 to be heard on the House floor.
Find a sample letter supporting HB 352 from Women’s Voices here. Feel free to copy and paste it as is or modify it and personalize it as much as you would like.
Learn more about the Missouri Clean Slate Campaign here.
Author Vivian Gibson Shares Stories of Growing Up in Mill Creek Valley
February 15, 2023
Vivian Gibson, author of The Last Children of Mill Creek, joined us February 15 at Kirkwood Public Library. Gibson shared what is was like to grow up in Mill Creek Valley, a working-class neighborhood in St. Louis that was razed in 1959 to build a highway, an act of racism disguised under urban renewal as “progress.” She spoke about the people, history, and culture of Mill Creek and opened a long-needed conversation about universal experiences and shared humanity.
See more pictures from this event here.
Lunch & Learn-Educational Equity: The Work of Special School District
January 20, 2023
Speaker: Kelly Grigsby, executive director of schools and programs for Special School District of St. Louis County
View the recorded presentation here.
