John,

Earlier this year, Tyrone Day was finally exonerated in Dallas after 33 years of wrongful conviction, after the Dallas County District Attorney dismissed a 1990 sexual assault charge against him, based on new evidence of his innocence. He was just 19 years old at the time of his arrest, and spent 26 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit before eventually being released on parole.

Today, Tyrone — now an urban farmer with an unwavering spirit — is working to transform Dallas’ food deserts into self-sustaining, community-based farm systems. He’s turned his history of wrongful conviction into a catalyst for change and growth — both in the soil and in his community.

Take a moment to read more about Tyrone’s journey and learn how he’s reshaped his wrongful incarceration into a period of profound personal growth and community service.

Tyrone’s passion for agriculture traces back to some of his earliest memories of his grandmother’s vast garden and his uncles’ livestock farms in East Texas. "My grandmother, gardening was her passion. I would get out there with her at eight years old, she showed me how to plant different crops, how to harvest them. We ate something from her garden every day,” he said.

Tyrone was even able to turn to his passion while incarcerated, and found solace in the garden at Michael Unit, a men’s prison in Anderson County, Texas. While there, he became a certified horticulturist and graduated at the top of his class from Trinity Valley Community College. Tyrone also managed a massive greenhouse, growing thousands of vegetables and plants for the prison system, and worked in the kitchen commissary, improving the nutrition and quality of meals for his peers.

After his exoneration, Tyrone co-founded Restorative Farms, a farming initiative with a mission to foster a viable community-based urban farm system in South Dallas. They were able to transform one of the country’s largest food deserts by growing a flourishing garden within it known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Garden. 

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, Tyrone and the team at Restorative Farms have been busy. It’s a time of giving, where they partner with companies like Whole Foods to provide holiday boxes to the community. "Last year we gave out about 150 Thanksgiving boxes," Tyrone said. This year they will provide boxes with all the produce and herb essentials families need for a Thanksgiving meal.  

All in all, Tyrone just wants to help people learn a new skill and build a better future for his community. This Thanksgiving, take a moment to learn more about Tyrone’s work and share his story with your friends and family online.

Thank you for your support, and happy Thanksgiving,

— The Innocence Project Team