Nate Nichols' Valley Youth House speech will move you - Generocity Philly

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Sep. 16, 2016 9:18 am

Nate Nichols’ Valley Youth House speech will move you

The Palette Group founder's presentation to 100 ex-foster, homeless and underserved youth is stirring (and riddled with killer hip hop references).

Also, maybe the coolest photo ever?

(Photo via Facebook)

If you follow Technically Media on the Snapchat, you might have noticed a recent takeover by Nate Nichols, founder of creative agency Palette Group.

It was pretty dope.

But Nichols has come a long way. In a recent speech the founder gave at Valley Youth House in Allentown, Pa., Nichols spoke about his upbringing — his experience with foster care, life in a single-parent household and his immigrant parents —  with 100 former foster, homeless and underserved youth.

“Harold, my father, hasn’t shared a breath or a phone call, a secret handshake or a talk on how to go zero to one hundred real quick, quick, with the ladies,” said Nichols. “Ever.”

It’s worth a watch.

“I’ve slept on a mattress with no bed frame, no headboard, just a mattress on a floor of a dark, dingy warehouse with no shower, no kitchen and barely and sunlight,” said Nichols. “Invisible to the world, government, family, friends and society.”

The speech serves as a reminder of a few failures of the system — especially its inability to totally track the number of people experiencing homelessness and the structural racism that plagues government institutions — as well as the need for providers and government to fill the gaps that allow youth to experience such horrors.

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