Kids need people who are going to pour into them. We stay in the moment to try to meet their needs, and to pour a lot of love into them.
By Liz Warren
Within a month of his 18th birthday, Scott Winter had purchased a small fixer-upper condominium and had done all the work to make it livable. Having experienced housing insecurity and eviction as a child, he vowed to always live in a home he owned. That’s a vow he has kept for himself and ensuring that our students have secure living spaces is an important focus of his work.
Scott was ambitious, creative, and hard working. The work ethic he had learned from his father was a driving force in his life. In his early 20s, he went to work for Liberty Mutual where he flourished in sales, IT, and process improvement.
“I have a knack for seeing when something is broken and how to fix it,” said Scott.
He rose higher and higher in management and moved the family back east for his job. But despite his success at Liberty Mutual, Scott knew something in him was broken, too. How to fix that?
As a child, he had learned to mistrust religious people and felt that God had abandoned him. But in his late 30s, when all else failed, he let his guard down and began studying Christianity. By the time he was 40, he had been convinced, and his heart had changed. He was no longer interested in status and money. He wanted to focus on the meaning of life, which for him was serving God and serving others.
In the fall of 2020, Scott helped to found the Christian Challenge Club at SMCC. When meeting and talking to students, he saw huge, heart-breaking needs that reminded him of himself at their age.
Scott and his wife Amy learned that students who were in mental health facilities during the week and released on the weekend had no place to live until they could sort things out Monday during business hours. They bought a small housing unit for their property, 8 feet by 20 feet, with one twin bed, a shower and toilet, a desk, a refrigerator, and a hot plate. Students might stay for a few days or a few weeks, as Scott and his wife work to help them connect to other services like Central Arizona Shelter Services, food stamps, and whatever else is necessary to get them back on their feet. That often includes helping them replace their IDs, setting up bank accounts, learning to cook, and learning how to use public transportation.
Dana Frasca, SMCC Dean of Enrollment Services, shared the story of a young woman who arrived at SMCC homeless and struggling with her mental health and who Scott and his wife helped. After he housed her, she experienced a complete turnaround — she became a student-athlete, joined PTK, and ultimately graduated. His support played a critical role in her success.
“They are at a critical point in their development. Without guidance, it can go really bad,” said Scott. He now works to fill that need as a mentor at SMCC.
Scott regularly tables for the Christian Challenge Club as a way to meet students, and he serves as the assistant basketball coach where he is a mentor and advisor to those young men. He answers his phone whenever they call — even in the middle of the night.
At any given time, he is in contact with as many as 100 students. Scott says, “Kids need people who are going to pour into them. We stay in the moment to try to meet their needs, and to pour a lot of love into them.”
Scott says that solving the world’s problems with the world’s solutions won’t work.
“Seeing how people are feeling and all they are going through is what breaks my heart for these young people. They have lost peace and hope and need the reconciliation and restoration that comes from God, and the message of putting down our phones and picking up a bible is a solution,” said Scott.