At Missing In America Network, we are honored to be a recipient of the Empower Grant, a gift that is making a real, measurable difference in our mission to support families with missing loved ones.
This grant came at a critical time, allowing us to strengthen the core of our operations and expand the reach of our advocacy. With Empower’s support:
We’re now reaching up to 250,000 people per day through our missing person billboard campaigns.
Our online awareness campaigns are reaching over 50,000 people daily, not including shares.
In just 6 weeks, we’ve printed and distributed 1,500 flyers directly to families, plus another 1,000 through community partners.
We’ve invested in specialized training for our Family Advocate Support Team.
Today, we are actively supporting over 100 open cases, and have walked beside more than 500 families over the past four years.
Thanks to the Empower Grant, our families feel seen. Our advocates are better equipped. And our reach is growing to bring hope where it’s needed most. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Higher Hope has been a pleasure to work with. Their application is really easy to fill out and we really appreciate their support of our work.

I had no idea how I was going to get the care I needed and I am so grateful to the Higher Hope grant for their assistance. It has changed my life!

We are deeply grateful to the Higher Hope Foundation for their generous support of our Empowerment Protocol programming. Their investment has allowed us to offer trauma-informed healing services to veterans, survivors, and community members navigating some of the most difficult chapters of their lives.
Because many of our clients come to us in vulnerable states, we do not often photograph our Empowerment Protocol sessions. These are sacred spaces — filled with breath, movement, and quiet breakthroughs — where survivors are learning to feel safe in their bodies again. Thanks to your grant, they’ve had access to support that doesn’t require them to re-tell their trauma — just to show up and begin healing.
We are especially moved by your decision to uplift the story of Denisha Montgomery Smith, a soldier whose name and memory continue to guide our work. Your willingness to share her story publicly gave her family — and those of us who continue to seek accountability — a meaningful sense of visibility, compassion, and validation.
Thank you for standing with us — and with those who have been silenced. Your support has helped us create space for justice, for healing, and for hope. We could not continue this work without your courageous support.

The Higher Hope Foundation has been a tremendous blessing to our family and our fight for justice. Through their generous sponsorship, we were able to attend the Advocacy Conference 2025, an experience that equipped us with vital tools, connections, and renewed strength to continue advocating for cold case victims like my brother, Eric Nelams.
In addition to their support for the conference, Higher Hope went a step further by providing additional funds to increase the reward for information in Eric’s case to $15,000. This act of generosity is not only a significant boost to our efforts, but it also sends a powerful message that Eric’s life matters and that justice is still possible. We are forever grateful.
The Hope grant has been more than support. It has been a reminder that we are not alone. That even in the darkest moments, there are people and organizations like Higher Hope standing with us, believing with us, and fighting with us. Thank you for helping us carry the torch of justice and for bringing hope to families like mine.

Our experience with your foundation has been truly transformative. The Empower grant allowed us to create a meaningful opportunity for one of the young women in our Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) housing program.
With the grant funding, we were able to offer her an internship at Bithiah’s, where she gained hands-on experience in a supportive, trauma-informed environment. This internship not only built her confidence but also equipped her with valuable, employable skills.
We are proud to share that after completing the internship, we were able to officially bring her onto our team as a part-time employee. The Empower grant truly lived up to its name—it empowered a young woman transitioning out of the foster care system to build a brighter, more stable future. Thank you for believing in our work and in the potential of the individuals we serve.