MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Melissa Mayne founded Compassion Highway Project in the Fall of 2014 and her grassroots organization experienced almost instantaneous growth as community members joined Melissa Mayne and her two children, Saja and Maddox, on the streets of Medford Oregon. “People just started joining in and helping.” Melissa said “It was exciting knowing that they were out there and able to help but also sad to know that it was greatly needed.” They continued to consistently warm the hearts and bellies of those within our community that often go relatively unnoticed or ignored. Melissa Mayne formed CHP because she had been homeless herself a few times due to circumstances outside of her control. One of those being a horrible situation in which her landlord was stealing her daughter’s medication. Charges were pressed and this individual eventually went to prison. However, the embarrassment for that family was so great that they decided to sell the house out from under Melissa and her daughter’s feet. They had nowhere to go. Needless to say, Melissa could relate to homelessness on a visceral level and she decided to do something about it. Looking back, Melissa felt really good about what she and a handful of volunteers were doing and she quickly formed close bonds with people that they were serving. What once started with Melissa, her children and eventually 5-7 volunteers under a small canopy under the overpass on the south side of Hawthorne Park serving around 82 people has now grown into a legitimate 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves up to 400 individuals every week; even more on the holidays. The CHP Board Of Directors Came into play in early 2016, some original board members have retained their positions with CHP while others have completed their terms and moved on. To see current bios please visit this page for more information.