History of the Coalition

The coalition formed in 2019 and was founded by staff of the ID and Birth Certificate (Outreach) Program at St. Francis Xavier College Church in St. Louis. As the need for ID assistance grew at the Outreach Program each week and year, it was clear there was a need to examine and combat the systemic barriers to identification that bring so many people to College Church’s doors each week. With that goal in mind, College Church convened an initial meeting with St. Louis area service providers and stakeholders, which grew into a regular monthly meeting to discuss identification challenges and think through strategies for addressing those issues. Since its founding the Coalition has created several working groups: a government accountability working group focused on working with the Department of Revenue and the Secretary of State’s office to seek ID access solutions, a monthly program support meeting to convene organizations across the state who want to offer ID assistance, a monthly meeting to address the specific needs of people leaving incarceration without their documents, and a group who meets to discuss the unique challenges to accessing identification faced by people who are homebound.

In July 2022, the coalition achieved a major win with the creation of the “Certification of Homeless Status and Residency” form, in partnership with the Department of Revenue. Prior to the availability  of this form, there was not a broadly available “Proof of Residency” option for people who are unhoused. This new option is a systematized way for a Missouri resident  without a stable address to apply for their ID and prove residency in the state of Missouri.

Later that year, the Ashrei Foundation eagerly joined College Church to support ID Access, both through creating a second direct program in St. Louis City and in co-facilitating the Coalition. In 2023, this partnership led to successful multi-year funding from Missouri Foundation for Health through the Opportunity Fund competitive grant. The grant is designed to positively impact the health of all Missourians through structural and relational changes to the systems that govern ID access by (1) expanding ID access programs statewide, (2) strengthening the existing statewide coalition, and (3) developing and leading evidence-informed and community-led advocacy efforts for programs, laws and policies to eliminate inequities in ID access.