Minnesota Freedom Fund

Minnesota Freedom Fund works to end wealth-based detention and build power with community to dismantle the systems that turn poverty into punishment while expanding access to freedom, safety, and dignity for all Minnesotans. 

We envision a Minnesota where justice restores humanity and dignity, and where every person has the resources, opportunities, and power to lead a healthy and full life.

Since receiving an outpouring of support following the murder of George Floyd, we’ve spent $26.4 million to free 3,444 people from pre-trial jailing and immigration detention. We’re proud of that impact. But the reality is, for every person who was released because we paid their bail or immigration bond, another person was booked into that same cell. And as we increased the scale of our support, we simultaneously poured more money into the oppressive cash bail and immigration detention systems. 

We've realized that paying bail for individuals is only a band-aid fix for the deep injustice of oppressive, discriminatory, and coercive jailing — and we cannot continue to resource the same system we are working to overturn.

Working toward lasting freedom and large-scale decarceration means investing in systemic transformation.

FREE THE PEOPLE. FREE THE COURTS. FREE THE VOTE.

These efforts are organized around three connected pillars of work: Free the People, Free the Courts, and Free the Vote.

Policy and Advocacy Change MFF works to change the laws, policies, and government practices that allow poverty to be treated as a criminal offense or a basis for incarceration. We advance reforms that end wealth-based detention and challenge policies that disproportionately punish people for their economic circumstances.
This work includes legislative advocacy, collaboration with policymakers and community partners, public education, and efforts to reform local practices that perpetuate unnecessary detention, financial penalties, and barriers to stability.
A central priority remains ending systems in which someone's ability to pay determines whether they remain free.

Housing Initiatives Through Freedom Housing LLC, its wholly owned housing initiative, the organization is developing a model that connects housing stability with long-term economic opportunity.
The initiative encompasses housing for people navigating reentry, support for homeownership readiness and wealth-building, and mission-aligned housing acquisition and development. 

Reentry Support MFF is strengthening pathways for people returning to their communities after incarceration.
Its Freedom Navigator model trains individuals, including people with their own experience navigating reentry, to provide personalized guidance, connections to community resources, goal planning, and ongoing support.

Legal Advocacy & Court Accountability MFF's work includes direct legal advocacy for eligible Minnesotans navigating the criminal legal and immigration systems, alongside efforts to strengthen court transparency and accountability.
The organization's broader work continues to emphasize accountability, access to justice, and changing the systems that make legal outcomes dependent on wealth and access to resources

Civic Education & Community Power MFF recognizes that lasting freedom requires more than access to services. It requires communities to have the power to influence the policies, institutions, and decisions affecting their lives.
Through our Freedom in Action Network which focuses on civic education, community organizing, and Court Watch, the organization works to expand participation, strengthen community leadership, and advance reforms to the criminal legal system.

How your gift will help drive systemic change

This year, GTMD donations will support MFF's Freedom in Action Network which brings together community members who want to contribute to MFF’s mission and the work of the FREE Campaign. Through organizing, advocacy, civic engagement, Court Watch, storytelling, education, and collective action, participants have opportunities to turn their interests and experiences into action. Freedom in Action is about more than building a volunteer base. We are building a network of informed, connected, and engaged community members who can take collective action and grow their leadership. Participants’ experiences, ideas, concerns, and visions help us understand what freedom, safety, accountability, and community power look like in practice and how we can build that future together.