MEDFORD, Ore. (Sep. 21, 2026) — The search for Sammy began with a missing cat and a promise that Merri Coxwell refused to break.
It eventually became something much larger.
Sammy’s disappearance led Coxwell through months of searching neighborhoods, knocking on doors, distributing flyers and connecting with hundreds of people throughout the Rogue Valley. Along the way, she encountered other cats that were lost, abandoned, injured or simply in need of someone willing to stop and help.
She did.
Those encounters eventually led Coxwell to create Sammy’s Way Home, a nonprofit cat rescue built around a simple idea she describes as “a heart that refuses to give up hope.”
The organization is now helping cats and their owners throughout the community while Coxwell continues searching for Sammy.
Her story is the focus of the first installment of Medford Alert News’ new “Amazing Locals” series, an original series designed to highlight local residents and small nonprofits whose work often happens without recognition but makes a difference in the community.
The search for Sammy
Sammy’s Way Home began with Sammy.
Sammy originally belonged to Coxwell’s mother, who adopted him in 2019. Then, in early 2020, Coxwell’s mother became seriously ill with COVID-19.
“She was hospitalized and died two weeks later,” Coxwell said.
Following her mother’s death, Coxwell and her husband took care of Sammy.
Over time, the cat became deeply connected to Coxwell’s memories of her mother.
“He is family,” Coxwell said. “He represents a piece of my mom.”
The family eventually moved to Southern Oregon, where Sammy became part of their everyday life.
Then, on Nov. 2, 2025, everything changed.
Sammy walked into the backyard and never came home.
Coxwell said she woke up at about 4:30 the following morning and immediately knew something was wrong.
“I knew Sammy had not returned,” she said.
What followed was a search that would consume much of Coxwell’s life for months.
She searched neighborhood after neighborhood, went door to door and spent countless hours walking the area looking for any sign of Sammy.
“There were times I was searching 12, 18 hours a day,” Coxwell said.
She put boots on the ground, knocked on doors and talked to hundreds of people. She searched sheds, garages, porches and underneath houses. She searched during the day and at night, often using a flashlight.
She distributed flyers and posted information in more than 30 local social media groups.
The search became a community effort.
But while Coxwell was searching for Sammy, her husband was dealing with his own serious health issues.
During the first three months Sammy was missing, Coxwell said her husband was hospitalized four times, spending at least a week in the hospital during each stay. He underwent multiple procedures, including exploratory surgery.
Even while dealing with his own health problems, he encouraged Coxwell to continue searching.
“He would tell me to keep going,” she said. “He called Sammy ‘the babe.’”
Coxwell kept going.
At one point, she said, someone began tearing down the posters and flyers she had placed around the area.
Rather than allowing that to stop the search, one of her friends stepped in.
The friend started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for postcards that could be mailed throughout the area.
The community responded.
Approximately 2,000 postcards were sent as people joined the effort to look for Sammy.
The search eventually became so visible that Sammy’s face became recognizable to people throughout the Rogue Valley.
Coxwell placed large missing-cat stickers on both of her vehicles.
Interestingly, she said, Sammy’s name isn’t even printed on the stickers.
“People recognize the image,” Coxwell said.
She recalled strangers seeing the stickers and approaching her.
“They’ll ask, ‘Is that Sammy?’” she said. “Or they’ll say, ‘Are you Merri?’”
Even people who have never met Coxwell personally continue to watch for Sammy.
“They’re still looking,” she said.
The search has also produced countless possible sightings.
Some of those reports have led Coxwell to places where she found cats that weren’t Sammy.
But she said she couldn’t simply walk away from those animals.
“I would find lost cats, abandoned cats, injured cats, hungry cats, and I couldn’t walk away,” Coxwell said.
Each time, she said, she found herself asking the same question:
“What would I want someone to do if it were my Sammy?”
That question became the beginning of something Coxwell never originally intended to create.
While searching for Sammy, she began helping other cats.
She started checking neighborhoods, looking for microchips, researching ownership, following up on lost-and-found reports and trying to determine whether cats had families looking for them.
She began finding fosters and arranging veterinary care.
The search for one cat gradually became a much larger mission.
But Coxwell said she still hasn’t given up on Sammy.
“I believe all things are possible with God,” she said. “I will not stop searching until I have answers or Sammy is home.”
She said Sammy remains at the center of the organization’s story.
Her search for him, she said, became a way of bringing hope to other animals that had also become lost, abandoned or forgotten.
“My search for Sammy became hope for lost, abandoned and forgotten cats,” Coxwell said.
As the number of cats she encountered grew, so did the realization that many rescues involved more than an animal.
“There is almost always a person behind every rescue,” Coxwell said.
Sometimes that person is the owner desperately searching for a missing pet.
Sometimes it is the person who finds a cat but does not know what to do.
And sometimes it is an owner who loves their animal but does not have the financial resources to provide the veterinary care the cat needs.
Coxwell said she wanted to help all of them.
“I want to bless people too,” she said.
She also began thinking about what could come from the pain and heartbreak of losing Sammy.
“I want to turn ashes into beauty,” Coxwell said.
She said she wants to be part of what she describes as the solution to the cat crisis in the Rogue Valley and create something that can continue helping animals and people.
The idea of formally creating a nonprofit eventually came from her husband.
“He encouraged me to start a nonprofit,” Coxwell said.
She prayed about it and asked for a clear answer.
Then, she said, the answer came almost immediately.
“Less than 20 minutes later, a friend contacted me,” Coxwell said. “She said, ‘The Lord has been laying on my heart that you need to start a nonprofit cat rescue.’”
For Coxwell, that was the confirmation she had been seeking.
Sammy’s Way Home was born.
The organization’s guiding philosophy can be summed up in a phrase Coxwell uses repeatedly:
“A heart that refuses to give up hope.”
The name itself reflects the story.
Coxwell was searching for Sammy and refusing to give up hope that he would return home. Along the way, she began helping other cats find their way home — or, when that wasn’t possible, find safety, medical care and a new family.
“I want to be part of the solution,” Coxwell said. “I want to be a blessing.”
The search for Sammy continues.
But Coxwell said she believes the work that came from that search has already given the story a meaning she could not have imagined when she first woke up at 4:30 a.m. and realized her cat was missing.
“What started with Sammy has become so much bigger than Sammy,” she said.
A missing cat leads to a rescue
As the search continued, something unexpected began happening.
People started contacting Coxwell about other cats.
Some were possible Sammy sightings. Others were cats people had found and did not know how to help.
Coxwell couldn’t simply walk away.
“I would find lost cats, abandoned cats, injured cats, hungry cats, and I couldn’t walk away,” she said. “I kept thinking, ‘What would I want someone to do if it were my Sammy?’”
That question became the foundation of Sammy’s Way Home.
Coxwell began checking neighborhoods, looking for microchips, researching ownership, contacting people who had reported missing cats, finding fosters and arranging veterinary care.
Her husband eventually encouraged her to start a nonprofit.
Coxwell prayed about it and asked for a clear answer.
“Less than 20 minutes later, a friend contacted me and said, ‘The Lord has been laying on my heart that you need to start a nonprofit cat rescue,’” Coxwell said.
She took that as her answer.
Sammy’s Way Home was born.
The mission, she said, is bigger than finding one cat.
“My search for Sammy became hope for lost, abandoned and forgotten cats,” Coxwell said.
She also said she quickly realized there is often a person behind every rescue.
“There is almost always a person behind every rescue,” she said. “There is the person who found the cat. There is the owner who is desperately looking for their missing cat. There is the pet owner who loves their cat but doesn’t have the resources to get them the care they need.”
Sammy’s Way Home, she said, is intended to help people as well as animals.
“I want to turn ashes into beauty,” Coxwell said. “I want to be part of the solution to the cat crisis in our valley. I want to be a blessing.”
There is no typical day
Today, Coxwell handles much of the hands-on work involved in the rescue.
There is no typical schedule.
Some days last eight hours. Others can stretch to 16 hours.
“I don’t have a nine-to-five job,” she said. “Emergencies don’t make appointments, and cats don’t follow business hours.”
Her days can include locating and safely containing cats, arranging veterinary appointments, researching ownership, knocking on doors, fundraising, finding foster homes, looking for forever families and following up with people involved in rescues.
She said she prays through the decisions involved in each rescue and has repeatedly seen people step forward when help is needed.
“I’ve seen doors open,” she said. “I’ve seen cats recover. I’ve seen miracles.”
She also said the community has repeatedly responded when the organization needs help.
“Someone will say, ‘What do you need?’” Coxwell said.
Sometimes that help comes through a donation. Other times it comes through transportation, fostering, sharing a social media post, providing supplies or simply helping look for a missing cat.
One example involved a woman who called Coxwell around 7 a.m., crying after seeing posts about Sammy.
The woman had found an emaciated tabby cat on her porch. The cat was covered in sores, had missing fur, sores around its mouth and was extremely weak.
The cat wasn’t Sammy.
But Coxwell went anyway.
“I realized this little girl was in terrible shape,” she said.
The woman who found the cat cared about her but did not have the resources to provide the veterinary care she needed.
Coxwell took the cat and began figuring out what needed to happen next.
The cat was named Rosey.
Rosey recovered, became healthy and eventually became part of Coxwell’s family.
“She went from being this sick, broken little cat to being healthy and beautiful and thriving,” Coxwell said.
For Coxwell, the rescue was another reminder that helping a cat doesn’t always mean finding Sammy.
Arthur and the arrowhead
Another rescue involved a cat named Arthur.
Coxwell saw a Facebook post about a cat along the Greenway that appeared to be having trouble eating and seemed to be experiencing significant pain in his mouth.
She went to look for him.
Arthur was friendly enough to safely contain, and Coxwell arranged veterinary care.
What veterinarians discovered was far more serious than a simple dental problem.
Arthur needed to be neutered and had significant dental and mouth issues. He also had a large metal arrowhead lodged in his body after apparently being shot with an arrow.
His condition initially resulted in a poor prognosis.
But Arthur survived.
“He’s doing pretty fantastic now,” Coxwell said.
She credited Roxy Ann Veterinary Hospital and Dr. Adrian and the veterinary staff for the care and compassion they provided.
Arthur has since become the first resident of Sammy’s Safe Haven, a small recovery and decompression space created by the organization.
Sometimes rescue means helping a family keep its cat
Another situation began with what Coxwell thought might be another lead in the search for Sammy.
The cat wasn’t Sammy.
But Coxwell noticed that the cat had an eye problem and was not neutered. She began investigating and eventually located the cat’s owner.
The owner loved the cat but was living on full disability and did not have the financial resources to provide all of the veterinary care the cat needed.
The cat was later found to be FIV-positive and needed to transition to indoor life.
Rather than simply taking the cat away, Coxwell worked to help the owner keep the animal.
Sammy’s Way Home helped with veterinary care, neutering and treatment for the cat’s eye.
Coxwell also advocated for enrichment items, including cat trees, condos and toys, so the cat could have a better indoor environment.
Community members donated supplies.
The woman who had originally found Rosey later donated an “amazing cat condo.”
For Coxwell, the situation illustrated what rescue can mean.
“Rescue isn’t always taking the cat from somebody,” she said. “Sometimes rescue means helping a person keep their beloved cat.”
The importance of foster homes
As Sammy’s Way Home has grown, Coxwell said one of the organization’s biggest needs has become foster homes.
The challenge often comes immediately after a cat is rescued.
A cat may need somewhere safe to go after veterinary treatment, particularly if the animal has been living outside for months or years, has been injured or ill, has undergone surgery or is traumatized and needs time to decompress.
Veterinary boarding can provide temporary housing, but Coxwell said it can also be expensive and stimulating for an animal that needs quiet.
A foster home can provide something different.
“It gives them a quiet spare room, consistency, rest and safety,” Coxwell said.
It also gives the rescue an opportunity to learn about the cat’s personality and determine what kind of forever home may be appropriate.
Coxwell said fostering can have a multiplying effect.
“When you open your home to foster one cat, you may actually be helping two,” she said.
The first is the cat being fostered.
The second is the cat that can now be rescued because the foster space has opened up elsewhere in the organization.
Coxwell emphasized that foster homes do not have to be large or elaborate.
“You don’t need a huge house,” she said. “You can have an apartment. You can have a small home. You can have a spare room.”
The organization has a foster application available through its website.
Sammy’s Safe Haven
The need for a safe transition space eventually led to the creation of Sammy’s Safe Haven.
Coxwell said she had been praying for a place where cats could go after being rescued and receiving veterinary care but before moving into foster or forever homes.
The answer came through a member of the organization’s board.
The board secretary has a small detached studio on her property and had already been thinking about using the space to help animals.
Coxwell had been praying for a similar solution.
The two ideas came together.
Sammy’s Safe Haven is intentionally small.
It is not designed to be a traditional animal shelter.
Instead, it provides a quiet, dedicated space where cats can recover, receive medications, eat, rest and receive individual attention.
Someone is on the property, allowing the cats to be checked multiple times a day, and cameras provide monitoring around the clock.
The space can comfortably accommodate two cats and, depending on their individual needs and compatibility, potentially three.
For Coxwell, the Safe Haven answers a basic question that can arise during a rescue:
“And then what?”
The answer is now a safe place in between.
“It’s not the final destination,” Coxwell said. “It’s a safe place in between.”
She said people should not feel like they have to know the entire rescue plan before taking the first safe step.
“Get them safe, and then figure out the next step,” she said.
Funding the work
Like many small rescue organizations, Sammy’s Way Home faces ongoing financial challenges.
Veterinary care is one of the largest expenses.
Coxwell said a basic veterinary visit can cost $300 to $400 just to get started, and costs can quickly reach thousands of dollars when an animal requires extensive treatment.
The organization tries to address the full needs of each animal, including spaying or neutering, testing, vaccinations, microchipping, medications, special food and follow-up appointments when needed.
There are also costs for boarding, food, litter and other supplies.
Coxwell said her family initially absorbed much of the cost themselves.
Now, members of the community are helping fund veterinary bills, but she wants Sammy’s Way Home to develop a consistent base of monthly donors.
She pointed to the cumulative impact of relatively small donations.
“Ten people giving $10 a month is $100,” she said. “Fifty people giving $10 is $500. One hundred people giving $10 is $1,000 every month.”
She said the organization also needs volunteers who can help with fundraising, grant writing, events, phone calls, business relationships, transportation and administrative work.
Veterinary partnerships are particularly important.
Coxwell said relationships with local veterinary offices, pet stores, businesses and other organizations can help the rescue expand its ability to respond when cats need assistance.
She emphasized that she wants those relationships to be mutually beneficial rather than simply asking businesses to donate.
What should you do if you find a stray cat?
One of Coxwell’s goals for Sammy’s Way Home is to educate the public about what to do when someone encounters a cat that appears to be lost or abandoned.
Her first piece of advice is simple:
“Safely contain the cat if you can.”
That could mean placing the cat in a bathroom, spare room or other climate-controlled area away from household pets.
Provide fresh water, appropriate food and a litter box, she said, and give the cat a quiet place to rest.
The goal is to create enough safety and stability to begin determining whether the cat has an owner.
Coxwell recommends having the cat scanned for a microchip as soon as possible. Many veterinary offices and animal shelters can perform scans.
She also recommends taking clear photographs of the cat from multiple angles, including the face, sides, back, tail, legs, paws and any unique markings, scars or other identifying characteristics.
Then begin looking for the owner.
That can include knocking on doors in the surrounding neighborhood, asking residents and feeders if they recognize the cat, checking local lost-and-found animal groups and posting clear information on neighborhood platforms.
Old-fashioned flyers can also be effective.
“Give the owner a real opportunity to be found,” Coxwell said.
She cautioned people against assuming that a friendly outdoor cat has been abandoned.
“No collar doesn’t mean no owner,” she said. “Friendly doesn’t mean abandoned.”
Likewise, a cat’s presence in an unfamiliar location does not necessarily mean the animal was abandoned.
Coxwell said cats can travel significant distances or even end up in different locations after being transported in vehicles.
If someone claims a found cat, she recommends asking for reasonable proof of ownership, such as photographs, veterinary records, adoption paperwork, a microchip match or identifying markings.
The goal, she said, should be to reunite cats with their owners whenever possible.
“Get them safe. Scan for a chip. Take good pictures. Ask questions. Knock on doors. Post broadly. Put up flyers,” Coxwell said. “Give the owner a real opportunity to be found.”
She added a reminder that has become central to her own story.
“That ‘stray’ standing in front of you might actually be somebody’s Sammy.”
The cats who are easy to overlook
Coxwell said another challenge is finding homes for cats that may not immediately attract attention.
Kittens often receive significant interest.
Older cats, adult cats and ordinary-looking tabbies can have a much harder time.
But Coxwell said every animal deserves consideration.
“They all deserve a home,” she said.
She said the organization needs forever families willing to look beyond appearance or age and understand that some cats simply need time and patience.
The same philosophy applies to rescue work itself.
“Rescue is a group effort,” Coxwell said.
A person who cannot foster may be able to donate $5.
Someone else may be able to transport a cat.
Another person may be able to share a post or hang a flyer.
Someone else may be able to provide food, litter or a cat condo.
Each contribution can become part of the same effort.
Building an organization without losing its heart
Sammy’s Way Home is now developing the infrastructure of a growing nonprofit, including a board, policies, procedures, volunteer programs, foster programs, fundraising efforts and the administrative work required to operate the organization.
Coxwell said she knows growth requires delegation and structure.
But she does not want the organization to lose the personal connection that created it.
“I never want this to become a faceless organization,” she said.
She wants donors, volunteers, fosters and community members to feel connected to the mission.
“I want to meet people face to face,” Coxwell said. “I want to thank them. I want to bake cookies. I want to know our community.”
She said every contribution matters.
“Every donor matters. Every blanket matters. Every share matters. Every foster matters. Every ride matters. Every prayer matters. Every word of encouragement matters.”
Looking ahead
Coxwell said she has dreams for Sammy’s Way Home, including eventually having a larger facility and expanding the organization’s ability to help more cats.
But she is reluctant to put a specific limit on what the organization could become.
“I want Sammy’s Way Home to become whatever the Lord wants it to become,” she said.
What she does know is that she wants the organization to remain personal, community-based and focused on helping people take the next step when they find a cat in need.
She wants someone to be able to say:
“I found this cat. I don’t know what to do next.”
And she wants Sammy’s Way Home to be there with an answer.
Coxwell also wants the organization to become an educational resource for the community — a place where people can learn how to safely contain a cat, search for an owner, check for a microchip, post a found-animal notice, recognize signs of distress and understand when veterinary care may be necessary.
Ultimately, she said, she wants people to feel confident about their first step.
“I want people to be able to say, ‘I know what my first step is,’” she said.
For now, that work continues one cat at a time.
Coxwell is still searching for Sammy.
She is still watching for his face.
She is still answering calls about cats in need.
And she is still asking the community to keep its eyes open.
“Keep praying for Sammy,” she said.
The search that began with one missing cat has already created something Coxwell never expected.
Sammy has not yet made his way home.
But his disappearance has become the reason other cats have found safety, veterinary care, foster homes and, in some cases, families.
Coxwell said that is the meaning she has found in the journey.
Her hope is that Sammy’s Way Home will continue to be a source of hope for cats that are lost, abandoned or forgotten — and a source of help for the people who find them.
“I want it to be a blessing to the community,” Coxwell said. “I want it to be a source of new hope for cats and a blessing to our community.”
About “Amazing Locals”
“Amazing Locals” is a new Medford Alert News original series highlighting local residents and small nonprofits whose work benefits the community, often without receiving widespread recognition.
The series is intended to introduce readers to the people behind the efforts — their stories, challenges, motivations and the work they are doing to help others.
For Coxwell, that story began with Sammy.
The search continues.
Medford Alert News has made a $100 donation to Sammy’s Way Home to help jumpstart community support for this important local nonprofit. We hope our small contribution inspires others to learn more about the organization, get involved and consider supporting the incredible work being done to help cats in need throughout our community.
You can directly support Sammy’s Way Home by clicking on the following picture or HERE
You can check out about Sammy’s Way Home HERE
Do you know an Amazing Local who goes above and beyond to make a positive difference in our community? We want to hear about them! If you know someone who selflessly gives their time, talents or resources to help others and deserves to be recognized, please submit your nomination here. Your nomination could help shine a light on an incredible local who is making a difference right here in our community. CLICK HERE
Medford Alert News is not affiliated with or connected to any GoFundMe or other funding campaigns mentioned in our reports. Any links provided are for informational purposes only. We advise readers to verify the legitimacy of any fundraising efforts before contributing.
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