Indiana Township's Scott Shaffer named executive director of North Hills nonprofit

Scott Shaffer went from working behind a pulpit to a desk without changing his job’s intention — to help those in need.

The 37-year-old Indiana Township resident was named the executive director at North Hills Community Outreach, a nonprofit that serves people facing setbacks due to hardship, crisis and poverty.

Previously, Shaffer was pastor at Fox Chapel United Methodist Church and spent many hours at its nonprofit, Roots of Faith, in Sharpsburg.

“Roots works to unite people across differences of race, class and geography to build community and alleviate poverty,” Shaffer said. “This new opportunity to serve as NHCO’s next executive director allows me to build upon my previous work, while working to make a larger regional impact across the North Hills.”

Shaffer called his job transition a natural evolution, saying the opportunity came at just the right time for him to take the next step into community leadership.

And, he joked, “I was born in 1987, the same year that NHCO was founded.”

A graduate of Eastern University in Philadelphia and Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., Shaffer is completing a doctoral program at Wesley Theological Seminary and Wesley House Cambridge.

He previously served congregations in Blairsville and Spring Hope, N.C.

At NHCO, headquartered on Ferguson Road in McCandless, social services go out to people in more than 50 ZIP codes across the region. The group also has satellite offices at the Millvale Community Center and Greenstone Methodist Church in Avalon.

Shaffer takes over for Tom Baker, who left in January to accept the job as CEO of Variety — The Children’s Charity, based in Pine. NHCO’s director of programs and services, Jackie Boggs, served as acting executive director in the interim.

Megan Melichar, board president, said Shaffer is equipped to tackle the role and guide NHCO’s continued growth and development to meet the rising needs in the region.

“Scott will lead NHCO with mindful consideration of its mission and the families we serve,” Melichar said.

NHCO assists people in meeting basic needs — moving toward self-sufficiency and maintaining independence — and providing more than 20,000 services to individuals and families, including emergency food, rent and utility assistance, free tax services, transportation assistance and senior services.

Initial goals for Shaffer include listening, learning and building relationships.

“NHCO is a wonderful organization with a long track record of strategic leadership to identify and meet community needs,” he said. “I hope to continue that legacy by listening to needs of clients, staff members and community partners and then building a coalition of partners to address those unmet needs.”

His love for community service began in high school by volunteering with his church’s youth group, including at nursing homes and dances for adults with intellectual disabilities, plus hands-on service projects.

In college, he shared Saturday lunches and conversations with unhoused neighbors in Philadelphia, and he worked with home repair and after-school tutoring programs.

“Over the past 14 years of pastoral ministry, I have worked to bring people together from diverse backgrounds to meet people’s needs and work for justice in our community,” Shaffer said.

Outside of work and serving his community, Shaffer can be found traveling and spending time with his wife, Shannon, and their two children, Lily, 13, and Theo, 10. He also enjoys hiking, skiing, hunting, fishing, camping, glassblowing, ceramics and CrossFit exercise.

When asked if he ever gets discouraged by so many cases of those facing challenges in life, the Butler native sees every progressive moment as a success.

“In one sense, community development work will never be finished as long as there is one person in need in our community, which some people may find discouraging,” Shaffer said. “But on the other hand, I am motivated by the thousands of small movements of progress that happen every time one person gets access to food, transportation, housing or employment.”

For details about the organization, visit www.nhco.org.