aBOUT MMIW USA
We are fighting for these women because we want the perpetrators to know that the families will fight back to get their daughters and loved ones back. We are also amplifying their voices to create awareness so that lawmakers and law enforcement can no longer neglect this issue. Lastly, we are also working with young women, through our “Staying Sacred” program, to give them the tools to prevent these tragedies. Your donations are crucial for this effort.
Our Mission
MMIW USA’s number one mission is to bring our missing home and help the families of the murdered cope and support them through the process of grief. We give them hands-on support and guidance and if we don’t have the answers, we get the answers so that these families do not feel abandoned and alone in this struggle like so many have before them. Our broader goal is to eradicate this problem so that the future generations thrive. We are doing that through education of the threats that they face and self-defense. We just started a monthly program to do just that. It is called Staying Sacred and we educate and have self-defense lessons at every meeting. Our strength lies in the fact that every single one of the staff and volunteers have been assaulted or trafficked and our passion is to be the kind of organization that we needed growing up and beyond.
Dedicated to
These two women were integral in the early days of MMIW USA. Amy’s situation was the first family contact Deborah had as a native liaison at Missing in New Mexico and it was through her sister Christy’s eyes that she saw the hell that the MMIW families went and still are going through through today. Sherry’s story was quit the same. Families like these are why we do what we do.
Amy Lynn Hanson
In 2014, Amy Lynn Hanson, a Dine’ woman who was attending UNM-Gallup, went to visit her friends on Thanksgiving. That was the last time her family saw her alive, although Amy called her sister the next morning to invite her to go shopping in Farmington, NM. Amy had replied, “No, I think I’m going to go with my friends.” That was one of the last times Amy called home. When UNM exam week arrived, Christy knew something was wrong when she did not hear from her.
Sherry Ann
Sherry Ann Wounded Foot from was from Porcupine, Pine Ridge Reservation. Sherry Ann was found hurt and dying in White Clay, Nebraska on 8-17-2016. She passed away a couple of days later. Her son and brother were also killed in that town and Sherry’s death was instrumental in the closing down of all liquor related business in that town. She is survived by her daughter Sandi, who we communicate with to this day. She was a loving mother and a tough and strong and passed that on to others.
