Missouri ID Coalition Breaks Down Barriers to Identification and Services at 2025 ID Access Summit
Last week, advocates, service providers, and policymakers from across Missouri and beyond gathered in St. Louis for the 2025 Missouri ID Access Summit, hosted by the Missouri State ID Access Coalition. The two-day event, held October 16–17 at the Deaconess Foundation, brought together organizations and individuals dedicated to dismantling the systemic barriers that keep Missourians from obtaining state-issued photo identification, which is the key to unlocking access to housing, healthcare, employment, and the ballot box.
This year’s Summit opened with a powerful panel featuring subgrantee organizations from Joplin, Springfield, Columbia, and Sikeston, each sharing lessons learned through the Coalition’s ID Access Subgrant program. Participants then connected during the Subgrantee Showcase and Reception.
On Friday, the keynote speaker, Wan Qi Kong of the Orleans Public Defenders, drew parallels between the recent tornado in St. Louis and the effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. St. Louis City Treasurer Adam Layne, Jacqueline A. Dillard, Deputy Director of the Kansas City Health Department shared about the new municipal ID programs in their respective cities. Representatives from Paraquad, the GLO Center, the Criminal Justice Ministry, and COMO Mobile Aid helped illuminate the disproportionate barriers to ID access that exist, and leaders from the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, and the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition also shared their expertise. National policy leaders, including speakers from the Coalition for the Homeless (Louisville) and the National Conversation About IDs, shared proven strategies for overcoming identification barriers in other states like Kentucky and Arizona.
“An ID is often the first barrier to accessing services, obtaining employment, securing housing, and more — and it is not just folks affected by the recent tornado in St. Louis who have trouble obtaining them,” said John Stamm, Director of the Missouri State ID Access Coalition. “We’re bringing together practitioners from across the State and country who are committed to ensuring Missourians live healthy and fulfilling lives, and we’ve honed in on government-issued IDs as a critical point of leverage in creating meaningful change.”
The Summit brought together many of the strongest members of the Coalition, and showcased the challenges Missourians face in obtaining identification. The attendees left energized to continue their work of removing barriers to essential identification documents for all Missourians, and have newfound connections to help them along the way.
To view the full Summit program and speaker list, visit moidaccess.org.
About the Missouri State ID Access Coalition
Photo identification is essential to building the lives we envision for ourselves. Many Missourians face barriers to getting government-issued photo IDs and, as a result, cannot access basic resources, meet immediate needs, or exercise fundamental rights. The Missouri State ID Access Coalition is committed to removing these barriers so that all Missourians can obtain accurate state-issued photo identification and lead healthy, fulfilling lives.
Formed in 2019, the Coalition was founded by staff of the ID and Birth Certificate (Outreach) Program at St. Francis Xavier College Church in St. Louis. St. Francis Xavier College Church and the Ashrei Foundation serve as the Coalition’s backbone organizations. Learn more at www.moidaccess.org.
