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CHARITY REVIEW
Issued: September 2025 Expires: September 2026

Empower: Abilities

Accredited Charity
Accredited Charity

Meets Standards
(417) 886-1188
1450 W Cambridge St
Springfield, MO, 65807
https://www.empowerabilities.org/
📄 Full Report 🖨️ Print 📋 BBB Charity Standards

Standards For Charity Accountability

Governance

  1. Board Oversight
  2. Board Size
  3. Board Meetings
  4. Board Compensation
  5. Conflict of Interest

Measuring Effectiveness

  1. Effectiveness Policy
  2. Effectiveness Report

Finances

  1. Program Expenses
  2. Fundraising Expenses
  3. Accumulating Funds
  4. Audit Report
  5. Detailed Expense Breakdown
  6. Accurate Expense Reporting
  7. Budget Plan

Fundraising & Info

  1. Truthful Materials
  2. Annual Report
  3. Website Disclosures
  4. Donor Privacy
  5. Cause Marketing Disclosures
  6. Complaints

Empower: Abilities meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Stated Purpose:
"To remove barriers and empower independent living for people with all disabilities.To remove barriers and empower independent living for people with all disabilities."

Year, State Incorporated:
1985, MO

Also Known As:
Southwest Center for Independent Living

The organization provides independent living services to all persons with disabilities regardless of gender, age, race, sexual orientation or disability type to disabled individuals living in these southwest Missouri counties: Christian, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster. Services includes, advocacy, information & referral, peer support, transitioning out of a nursing home or from youth to adulthood, (including establishing post-secondary goals) and personal care services. It offers individual or group services with the goal of increasing independence. It also works within the communities it serves to reduce barriers, increase access and eliminate the stigma of disability.

For the year ended June 30, 2024, Empower: Abilities's program expenses were:

Programs $6,600,874
Total Program Expenses $6,600,874

Chief Executive
Shannon Porter, CEO

Compensation*
$89,818

Chair of the Board
Joe Sweeney-Legore

Board Size
10

Method(s) Used:
Direct mail appeals, Print advertisements (newspapers, magazines, etc.), Television, Grant proposals, Planned giving arrangements, Cause-related marketing (affinity credit cards, consumer product sales, etc.)

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

The following information is based on Empower: Abilities's audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024.

Source of Funds
State CDS Grant $6,470,074
In-Home Services $557,824
Other $273,247
Employee Retention Credit $258,414
State IL Grant $230,334
Other Grants $103,170
Interest Bearing Cash $98,820
Investments $89,797
Title VII Federal Grant $54,735
Net Revenue with Restrictions $10,759
Fundraising $10,072
Memberships and Donations $1,095
Total Income $8,158,341

Programs: 87% Fundraising: 1% Administrative: 12%

Total Income $8,158,341
Total expenses: $7,608,083
  Program expenses $6,600,874
  Fundraising expenses $70,390
  Administrative expenses $936,819
  Other expenses $0
Income in Excess of Expenses $550,258
Beginning Net Assets $4,386,976
Other Changes In Net Assets $0
Ending Net Assets $4,937,234
Total Liabilities $54,970
Total Assets $4,992,204

An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus.

This report is not to be used for fundraising or promotional purposes.

RELATED CONTENT

Report completed by:
BBB of Eastern & Southwest Missouri & Southern Illinois