Club Helps Alum Find Community, Connection, Path to Career

April 01, 2025

For Steve Griffiths ’89, a step through a club office door turned out to be an important first step toward his future.

Convinced by a friend from Anoka High School to give the speech team at Anoka-Ramsey a try, Steve says he was nervous the first time he visited the club’s campus office. On the other side of a bright yellow door, Steve found a community that helped him stay connected to campus and engaged academically.

“I think, without that speech team, college probably would have disappeared for me,” he says. “It’s not that I didn’t enjoy college but (the team) was an anchor there. All my friends were there. I loved my time there.”

Returning to campus a few years ago, he reflected on how pushing through those nerves and pushing open that door shaped his path for years to come.

“I was so apprehensive to open the door the first time,” he says, “but it probably led me to where I’m at today.”

Steve took his Anoka-Ramsey credits and experiences to Mankato State University where he completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He set himself on a path of serving others and has made a decades-long career of serving others.

Today, Steve is the Executive Director of Stepping Stone Emergency Housing in Anoka, Minn. The organization runs a shelter that houses up to 66 people nightly. It works with clients to address immediate needs in the form of basics like housing, food, clothing and transportation.

“I never felt like I was somebody who was supposed to make widgets and turn a profit. I really believe my personal mission is to provide the basics, including shelter for people, so that they can become who they are meant to be,” he says.

Stepping Stone matches clients and caseworkers and builds plans to address underlying causes of homelessness, including things like untreated mental health and chemical dependency issues, lack of appropriate job training or education and more.

Steve says he can see similarities between the work Stepping Stone does for its clients and the role a community college plays in the lives of its students. They serve as partners, helping make plans and connect resources. But leave it to clients and students to control their trajectory.

“We really are about empowerment. We tell our residents we’re going to help you walk through our plan, but you have to be the one to own it,” he says.
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This feature appeared in the 2025 Anoka-Ramsey Community Newsletter. View a full PDF version of this story and additional pieces.