Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson is the Program Supervisor at the Stepping Stone Program, a residential program that provides long-term treatment to male juvenile offenders, ages 12-18, with a history of family conflict, chronic delinquency, substance abuse, and poor school performance. Scott left behind a career in finance before joining Looking Glass, saying that he was unhappy in his previous line of work and wanted to accomplish something meaningful. He says that he wasn’t sure what to expect when he started at Looking Glass. “I was prepared to see youth perpetually escalated, hitting walls, yelling, and being overall aggressive,” Scott explained. “While we do see these things on occasion, these same youth get excited to see giraffes at the zoo and sing along to Taylor Swift on the radio. This job has helped reinforce the idea that kids are kids. I feel as though many of us were at some point in our lives just a few bad decisions away from being in similar situations, but if we can keep ourselves from defining youth by their charges, we will be in a better position to support them.”
When asked what the most challenging part of his job is, Scott says that it’s remembering that he can’t put more effort in than the youth he serves. In other words, just because solutions may be clear and simple to the staff, that doesn’t mean that the youth see it or are ready to move forward. It’s important to meet the clients where they are, support them in their progress, and help them recognize when they are ready for treatment. He emphasizes that growth often happens in small steps, but says that the most rewarding part of his job is seeing those little changes in the youth’s behavior.
Inside the Stepping Stone facility, one of the gathering rooms
And those little changes add up. The Stepping Stone Program has several youth that are about to graduate and transition back into their communities. Scott says of them, “They have shown significant improvement, and they have put a great deal of work into their treatment.” He also highlights the dedication of the staff, saying, “I have the privilege of working with a fantastic team, and know that each of them have made a meaningful impact on the lives of these youth.”
Scott teaching Looking Glass volunteers how to operate the ice cream booth at Oktoberfest
In addition to all of his work at the Stepping Stone Program, Scott recently coordinated the Looking Glass booth at Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel. Scott’s family owns an ice cream booth which they generously donated for the event. The event only allows non-profits to run the food booths and Scott’s family arranged for some German-themed modifications to be made on their booth as well as towing it up there and supplying the inventory at wholesale cost. The four day event (which draws annual crowds of over 300,000 people to the 3,500 person town) generated more than $11,000 for Looking Glass! This event would not have been possible without Scott!
Scott was recently accepted to graduate school where he is working towards his Master of Social Work. He is looking forward to continuing his education and developing more tools to use in this field.
To learn more about Stepping Stone, click here. To read about how Stepping Stone recently proved themselves as the undisputed champions of residential kickball, click here. Scott welcomes the staff at Looking Glass’ other residential programs to come see the trophy in the Stepping Stone staff office.