TIFTON — From county commissioner, Alternative Dispute Resolution director, Association of County Commissions of Georgia president, and beyond, Melissa Hughes has always gone above and beyond to serve her community – a passion that has persisted throughout her life.

Born and raised in Tifton, Hughes was the oldest of four children, and spent much of her youth following in the footsteps of her father, a hard worker who kept himself busy with project after project around their home.

She owes much of her passion for service to the work she did alongside him.

“My love for what I do as a passion, ‘One Street at A Time,’ picking up trash, came from my dad,” Hughes said. “My dad loved his yards. He would stay out there pretty much all day, working in his yards, and with me being the oldest, I ran behind him, did the same thing. I remember putting on my shorts as a teenager and getting out there, mowing yards right along with him.”

While she briefly studied at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Hughes eventually decided that the experience wasn’t right for her at the moment, leading her to leave the college before she had completed her education.

To this day, she admits she regrets leaving ABAC before she finished, but the decision ultimately led her to an event that would change her life.

After leaving ABAC, she took on several positions in the community, including working as a nursing assistant for several years at Tift Regional Medical Center.

It was in the process of leaving one of these jobs that Hughes found the inspiration to run for commissioner – or as she more aptly said, was given the inspiration.

“I was on my way to my parents’ house, and I heard this voice: ‘Commissioner,’” Hughes said. “It was such an unusual voice. … I can’t remember hearing this voice before.”

Hughes would later interpret the message as a sign from God to run and set to work preparing for her campaign. She recalls her mother being wary of her new mission, but her father expressing his full support, his enthusiasm reminding her of a cheerleader.

To prepare her for her campaign, her parents connected her with Pat Melton, a family friend and then president of the Tifton NAACP, who encouraged her to run, as a seat was coming open on the Tift County Commission.

Melton connected Hughes with Thurman Walker, an Atlanta politician that became a valuable asset in her growth as a politician. Hughes recounted the two of them speaking extensively over six months as Walker educated Hughes on everything she needed to know to become county commissioner.

But even as she learned all of these new tools of the trade, she remained true to her roots.

When campaign season rolled around, she ran on a platform based on the lessons and passion she had learned from her father, creating her “One Street at A Time” initiative, cleaning up Tift County street by street until the entire community was spotless.

Though she additionally ran for the full four-year term, her first campaign only secured her a spot serving the remaining six months of the remaining term.

Even with such a small time frame, she did all she could to serve Tift County, working to tear down numerous dilapidated houses and remodeling a rundown park.

And when that term ran out, she made sure to let the other commissioners on the board know she’d be back.

“When Mr. Frankie Mathis was sitting in that seat, I stayed busy, because what Mr. Thurman had always told me is, ‘You’re always campaigning,’ and that’s what I always did,” Hughes said. “I stayed visible, I continued to serve the community, and after that four years, I was reelected by three votes. and I consider it as being the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost – ordained by God.”

Shortly after her election to the commissioner position, Hughes decided to expand her service to the community, applying for the seat of director for the Alternative Dispute Resolution program.

She recalls competing against numerous other applicants who she said were more skilled and qualified, boasting full college educations and more years of experience.

She said she was determined to overcome adversity, asserting to the judges of the application process that the other applicants may have been more qualified, but she would give her all in the position if they were willing to give her the chance.

“I remember the judge telling me that they all looked better than me on paper, but I sold myself, and that has stuck with me,” Hughes said. “You have to put yourself out there. Although you don’t have all of the degrees on the wall that everybody else does – and I’m not saying that you don’t need them, because you do – but I went and got trained to do this job.”

Since becoming both ADR director and county commissioner, she said she has worked to help the community anyway she can through her role on the board of commissioners, or just offering a helping hand where possible.

In addition to keeping her “One Street at A Time” initiative going strong, Hughes regul≠arly runs her annual coat drive, organized at the height of the winter season to ensure the people of Tift County have proper protection against the cold, and her sock drive held during February so children of the community can look forward to a gift on Valentine’s Day.

Hughes fondly recalls her first year running the coat drive, where the response from the community was so immense that her home was overrun by donated clothing, leading to her investing in a storage space in later years.

And even now her desire to continue helping her community persists as the community continues to grow. As of her appointment to president of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia last May, her community has become practically the entire state.

However, the commissioner’s focus remains primarily on Tift County and other rural communities in Georgia, as she said she hopes to work with the ACCG to advocate for support for mental health patients in rural areas, believing the extensive networks for mental health that exist in larger communities should be provided in smaller communities, too.

In her personal life, she is working on a book compiling her experiences across her life and political career, with the intent of assuring people that politics isn’t as all consuming a career as it seems, and they can make a change in their government if they just take a chance.

But regardless of what positions she may take in the future, how long she will hold them or what she will do with them, she said her intent remains to serve her communities however she can.

“A lot of people don’t know what their calling is,” Hughes said. “I know my calling: mine is to serve and I will serve in whatever capacity.”