Now, the 36-year-old is giving back, making it her mission to tell the homeless about the opportunities available to them and provide the support needed to get back on track.
"The thing about Nikki is that she's just an amazing combination of professionalism and her commitment to giving back is really incredible," said Lauren Millner, who works with Project H.O.M.E. "In addition to that, she's so compassionate."
Family's hard struggle
When Johnson-Huston was a toddler growing up in Detroit, her grandmother was injured in a car crash, the first in a series of tragic events that Johnson-Huston believes prompted their descent into homelessness.
"I have the feeling that my family was never really wealthy, but my grandmother sort of always worked, and the accident put her in a position where she couldn't work," she said.
Four years later, after two of her uncles had been killed in Detroit, Johnson-Huston's grandmother used the money she received in a small settlement from the crash to move the family to California.
"I think she was afraid of what would happen to everyone else if she didn't," Johnson-Huston said.
Unfortunately, with her mother battling alcoholism, it didn't take long before their life started to tumble in San Diego. The family began living in hotels, on the streets, and then at a Salvation Army shelter. They ate meals at a rescue mission.
"It was scary and fearful and confusing," Johnson-Huston said. "You don't know a lot, but you know that it's probably not how things are supposed to be."
When she was about 10, Johnson-Huston's mother sent her to live with her grandmother a few hours away in Santa Barbara, Calif., while her brother, Michael, went into foster care.
