We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Raphael Stark. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Raphael below.
Raphael, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
As a teen who stutters, I wanted to offer help, for teens like me, to find a path through their struggle of navigating through school, friends, and family with a speech challenge. I formed a nonprofit called CHATS: Caring for Hawaii Teens with Speech Challenges, a support group for youth ages 13 to 18. The mission of CHATS is to break the walls of misconception through community education while providing support and resources for youth with speech challenges. Education leads to understanding and normalization for those who have speech differences. For youth with speech difficulties, I want them to feel empowered, not to hide or fixate on correcting their communicational difference, but to dream, explore, and achieve betterment because of it. Thus, insuring the betterment of the global community.”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As a teen who stutters, I wanted to build a community where fellow teens ages 13-18 with speech challenges could gather in a fun and nonthreatening space. So, I created a 501c3 nonprofit support group called CHATS: Caring for Hawaii Teens with Speech Challenges. I see my project as a mission to break the walls of misconception through education while providing support and resources for youth with speech challenges. In partnering with local mental health organizations, CHATS speaks in schools and throughout the community, stressing the importance of inclusion, anti-bullying, and mental health. We hold monthly peer-led support meetings, offer neighborhood events, and sponsor service projects such as the St. Nick Project where we recently hand-delivered 250 care packages to Oahu’s homeless. For information on upcoming events, be sure to visit us on Instagram, @chatshawaii, or on our website, www.chatshawaii.org.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three most important qualities I find most impactful in my journey are patience, humility, and giving more than expected. Wherever you are in your life journey, my advice would be to ease up on the expectations you place on yourself and others. Show gratitude and express thanks as often as possible; you can never thank people enough. And giving more than expected is always a win-win.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
There are a number of wonderful people who have been the most helpful. This includes my mentor, parents, family, friends, church, and community organizations. It takes many hands to start a nonprofit.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chatshawaii.org
- Instagram: @chatshawaii
- Other: email: raphael@chatshawaii.org
Image Credits
Georgine Stark Raphael Stark
