Neither an empty seat nor a dry eye was to be found as Nikki Johnson-Huston told her story today to a Chester County organization committed to making a difference. The event was an antidote for the images of riots, hopelessness, and frustration on every TV station in the past week.

Johnson-Huston told of being homeless at the age of 9. Her mother had lost her way to drugs which left a mother and two children homeless. Johnson-Huston was sent to live with her grandmother. Her grandmother was infused with hope, which she shared generously. The hope was fortified by the belief that hard work at this particular time in this particular country would make anything possible for a young black girl.

Upon arriving at her grandmother’s house, she was asked what she was going to do with herself. Ten-year-old Johnson-Huston said, “I’m going to be a lawyer and have lots of shoes.” Nikki Johnson-Huston, Esq. kicked up her Red Bottom Shoes to the applause of the audience.

During Johnson-Huston’s stay with her grandmother, members of the senior community in which she lived all conspired. Young people were not allowed to live there full-time, but could visit for up to two months. So Johnson-Huston was adopted by one grandmother after another, assuming a series of names, including Nikki Wang.

Often her grandmothers were not even black. When the community director commented that she didn’t look like her grandmother, the retort was that Nikki Wang looked like her father.

Overcoming many obstacles, Johnson-Huston managed to get a scholarship to St. Joseph’s University. Unfortunately, it was too great a cultural chasm to have a roommate with a million dollar home on the Main Line. Johnson-Huston flunked out after the first year.

She took a page from her grandmother and went to work for a family. As it turns out, both of the adults in the family were lawyers. They saw the potential of their new charge and made a commitment to be home every night by six so she could go to night school. A law degree from Temple University followed completion of her undergraduate degree.

The keynote speech by Johnson-Huston resonated with the members and guests at the 10^th annual luncheon of The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls. The organization raises funds in order to support “advocacy to ensure that women and girls have the resources and opportunities to thrive.” The Fund accomplishes its mission by making grants to organizations in the community that demonstrate effective support for vulnerable girls and women in Chester County.

As part of the community vision, students from 12 high schools can join the Girls Advisory Board. The Girls Board operates much the same way as Fund does. The girls learn the grant process, evaluate the grant applications, visit the applicants’ sites and then award grants.

According to the organization, more than $2 million dollars has been awarded to 60 agencies over the past 16 years. The areas of focus are homelessness, leadership, self-esteem, poverty, teen pregnancy, mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence. For more information, visit http://www.ccfwg.org.