No reason to live

Scott was born and raised in a city just outside of Detroit, MI. Growing up Scott had a very stable home environment. His mother attended a prestigious law school while his step-father owned a successful electrical company. “There wasn’t anything that I can remember growing up that I went without. I pretty much had everything and then some, but materialistic things such as clothes, schools, cars and so on didn’t fill the void that was so deep in my soul." At the age of 12 Scott was molested by an older individual, and because it was never dealt with Scott eventually turned to drugs and alcohol. By the age of 21 Scott was abusing multiple drugs/alcohol, and because of his addictions he ended up in two psychiatric hospitals, he was arrested over 25 times (twice by SWAT), he was tried and convicted of 36 felonies, and spent nearly a decade locked up in 16 different prisons (multiple sentences) throughout the state of Michigan. While serving time in a prison that some would call “Hell on earth” Scott became a gang member and as time went on he moved up the ranks eventually becoming a leader. It was in this darkness that Scott also found light.

One night while attending a prison church service, Scott’s life was forever changed. “I remember sitting at this church service thinking how broken my life has truly become. I had so much hatred and darkness in my soul, that the only way to escape all of it, I thought, would be death. That Friday night became the first time I was ever truly free. I wasn’t able to go home and be free, but my mind, heart and soul became free, and trust me that was the greatest gift I have ever received." Because of that one moment in time, on a Friday night, inside a prison church service, Scott has become an inspiration for tens of thousands of people who are hurting just like he was. “I know that the second greatest gift Jesus gave me was the ability to communicate to people on so many different levels. That gift needs to be shared, and I share it as much as I possibly can”.

Since Scott’s release from prison in 2002, he has become one of the most outspoken voices in Christianity when it comes to helping people with addictions. His incredible life story is raw, honest, refreshing and real. Since the release of his first book, No Reason To Live in 2011, Scott has been a guest speaker at 50+ events with 20,000+ people in attendance. Scott has worked with multiple state and federal government agencies in the fight against drug addiction in central Ohio. In 2011, Scott co-founded multiple ministries that include sober living homes, drug awareness marches, a teen center, and recruited mentors for multiple high schools located in Indiana and Ohio. In 2013, he became the Chaplain and Outreach Officer for a police department in central Ohio, and in 2016, became the full-time chaplain at Multi-County Correctional Center. Scott continues to be a consultant to multiple agencies such as criminal courts, probation/parole divisions, and narcotics task force/gang units.