For 25 years, the Midwest Innocence Project has fought wrongful convictions across Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Our community came together to raise $529,166 and help keep the path to freedom open.

That support helps MIP continue moving 21 active cases forward and remain available to the more than 900 people still waiting for their requests for help to be reviewed. Now, we are working to strengthen and sustain MIP to ensure that the next person who reaches out for help has someone in their corner.

MAKE A MATCHED GIFT

Keep MIP Strong. Keep Freedom Moving.

You helped save MIP.

Now help sustain the fight for freedom.

When federal grant cuts put the Midwest Innocence Project at risk, this community showed up. Your support helped protect the work that has brought people like Christopher Dunn, Lamar Johnson, Kevin Strickland, and Cedric Warren home after decades of wrongful imprisonment.

Because of you, MIP can keep its doors open.

Now, we are raising $675,000 to sustain this work for the long haul: to keep experienced legal advocates and investigators on cases, support people as they rebuild their lives after release, and make sure MIP is here when the next innocent person needs someone to fight for them.

Saving MIP was the first step. Sustaining it is how we keep freedom moving.

Why MIP Still Matters

For 25 years, MIP has investigated and litigated wrongful-conviction cases across Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Today, MIP has 21 active cases in investigation or litigation and more than 900 requests for help awaiting review. Studies estimate that roughly 4,000 people across the region may be wrongfully imprisoned.

A wrongful conviction can take decades: birthdays, graduations, funerals, time with children, and the chance to build a life. As time passes, evidence disappears, memories fade, and witnesses become harder to find. For many people in this region, MIP is not one option among many. It is the only innocence organization they can turn to.

What Your Gift Sustains

Your gift helps MIP:

-Keep legal teams in place for people fighting to prove their innocence

-Continue investigations before critical evidence is lost

-Support clients as they return home and navigate the challenges of reentry

-Retain the lawyers, investigators, and staff whose expertise makes this work possible

-Continue policy work that helps prevent future wrongful convictions

-Remain a reliable resource for people across our five-state region

From Emergency Response to Long-Term Strength

MIP had to reduce staff by 25% after federal funding cuts and the loss of a major funding source. The initial $500,000 Save MIP goal gave the organization the bridge support needed to respond to that immediate crisis without walking away from clients in active cases.

We are deeply grateful to every person who helped make that possible.

But the work of challenging wrongful convictions does not fit neatly into a single fundraising moment. Cases can take years. People coming home need support long after a court ruling. And every request for help represents a person, family, and community waiting to be heard.

Reaching $675,000 will help MIP move beyond immediate crisis and build the stability this work requires.

Keep MIP Here for What Comes Next

As reported by St. Louis Public Radio on July 10, 2026: Read the article.