Residents were asked, “Please tell us about an important moment in your life that would help someone understand what it’s like living in your neighborhood.” Explore 50 responses below, selected at random. Which stories capture your attention? (Some responses were transcribed by youth volunteers.) To learn more about the storyteller and how they interpreted their response, click “Zoom In.”
My community (Story #423)
My neighborhood is filled with children,I see them having fun playing ball but I also see them fighting. They either arguing with their parents or just fighting with the other kids . long been clear that children from troubled neighborhoods have worse outcomes as adults. But it has been much harder to disentangle whether these neighborhoods cause the later disadvantage, or whether the hardships that lead families to bad neighborhoods are the problem.
Back then
Living in my neighborhood things have changed alot. I remember when it was ok to just sit outside your house,no u have to worry about these kids killing each other.
The Betsey Ida story
In the past half a century the world has transformed, with the advent of the internet, medical advances and leaps forward in social equality.But much subtler changes which only those who lived in past decades can understand have also permeated society.
Fun days
I grew up in Spartanburg South Carolina it was nothing like it was today. When i was younger around 16 we was aloud to go out and have a good time. When i was 18 me and my cousin went to the pool and we met two guys and they asked if we wanted to go out and we agreed but there was two similar cars and they got out to go get something but i grew impatient. I was in the wrong car blowing the horn and they come out the house and caught me in the car understanding…
The Wiser
Find God and Connection with someone older. I did this and it helped me get through a lot. The elder are wise
Rip daddy
Important moment in my life was losing my father. When he left my life I had to survive in this neighborhood alone.its a pretty ruff neighborhood I needed my dad for certain things.
My Service Dog
I live in a pretty nice neighborhood there is not much of a story to tell I mean one time I lost my dog and I couldn’t find him for about three days I was very sad everybody knew who my dog was he was my service dog and as a group a few of my neighbors and the kids went searching for my dog and we ended up finding him and I’m just very thankful for how sweet and generous my neighbors are
Grandparents- Rickia
Growing up in my neighborhood was fun we had lots of fun but segregation was not too far over. So my grandparents still didn’t let me go outside with them and i didn’t live with my mother i saw no wrong with the white kids but she believed that they looked down on us.
Always remeber
Some people try to turn back their odometers not me I want people to know why I look this way . I’ve traveled a long way and many of the roads weren’t paved . First you forget the names than you forget the faces . Living in my neighborhood was a good thing for me met nice people
Lack of Support
Growing up in the projects. Seeing Violence and families fighting each other.
The community I live in
Together, our analyses can offer a portrait of who is poor and why, and explore the public policy implications; we can lift up voices and lives that are normally ignored or caricaturized by the media; we can include people living on the brink in high-profile events that explore poverty and in our advocacy efforts.
Sadness
Seeing kids in a wheelchair while young.
Different lifestyle
When I young living in my neighborhood was different from today. We couldn’t do the things that the young people do today. The white kids had more privilege then us blacks we couldn’t even go to the beach.
Violence (Story #609)
Gun violence
Hope and Vote to Change
Growing up in Pahokee, a small city in Western Palm Beach County, with nearly eight thousand residents. The people was proud and full of life. While people with jobs did not earn salaries like middle class earners today, more people had jobs and there own place to live. Today, our communities are faced with homelessness, a lack of jobs, substance abuse and violence without cause. I had a wonderful childhood. I recall having lots of friends and everyone in the community getting along without the drama of guns and gang violence. Parents could leave the kids home alone for a…
Rose out of concrete
Living around violence-but finding the good out of every situation. Great support system.
Change-Rickia
I made a lot of errors in life. When I changed me, I changed my life. I’ve been homeless I’ve been in and out of jail. I’ve been been down to my last dollar and had it stolen from me when that was all i had to eat with. My neighborhood was selfish i changed me.
Concrete Jungle
My cousin got arrested for selling drugs.
Better themselves
Everyday I see some type of dealing in front of my house. When I say dealing I mean drug dealings. I just always brush it off because it’s not affecting me. I just wish they would find a real job and better themselves.
Respect
Growing up i had moved down from Haiti and the part i lived in there was a lot of white people so not only was i kind of racial profiled i was also picked on and make fun of because of my accent so that pretty much sums up what it was like. I was in trouble a lot because i was the type to always want to defend my self. I had a couple friends that’s guided me through but i still wanted my respect.
Make the right friends
An important day in my life was when I first got out of prison Life wasn’t always great for me and it wasn’t always good but when I went down that bad road and had the wrong friends I was in and out of jail I was selling drugs Things was just bad for me don’t need you guys making the same mistake I made
One Big Family
My neighbor next door made sure that I got home safely from school while my parents were at work. The community was one big family.
The Run
Was brought down from New Jersey with my mother
a bad night in boynton.
an important moment my interviwees life was. a time back about 10 years ago when she was driving down the street and then out of nowhere her car broke down now this was late at and she says that she was going to walk to a gas station to get gas and when she was walking a group of boys was walking and she was walking for a good while and noticed that they were following her so she decided to cross the street and walk on the other side and thet crossed also, then the group stsrted running after…
Life in Belle Glade, FL
Positive: My kid and the community. Been cutting hair 27 years in community. Had ups and downs. Took 16 years to get off cocaine. Depends on god. Can do better. Robert Mitchell (commissioner): Trying to get own walmart in Belle Glade. Hard for kids to avoid negative environments. Parents also have influence on kids’ growth. Not a lot of hobbies for kids to do in community because small town. Trying to make the best of it. Started working at 5. Knows how to build a house from the ground up, did a lot of criminal stuff, but prays to god….
The neighborhood of renters
I wouldn’t want people to live in my neighborhood because you have many renters in the neighborhood who don’t take care of their things. When i was driving home from work i realized that there was somebody breaking into a car as if it was their own. The neighborhood is a mess i wouldn’t allow the worst child to stay there kids fighting kids left and right , parents arguing, people dying i wouldn’t wish for my biggest enemy to stay here.
My brothers -Devonte white
Coming up i had a lot of brothers so i can say they was important to me. They protected me and always made sure i was straight. I don’t really know where i would be without them.
My child
Important moment in my life was having my first child . He changed my life in a way. With out him I would of been in the streets of boynton running wild
Met my soulmate
When I moved down here from North Carolina I was quite scared. My neighbor was very welcoming. She would always check on me and helped arrange my house. Now 10 years later were married with a child. Maybe I should’ve just moved down here way before then.
Don’t Hate us
“I had a dream “ I remember when I first heard Dr. king say that it was a peaceful moment everyone was happy sitting there , life was cruel for me coming up We were segregated from different schools we didn’t have Kids in schools that was out color
My community (Story #57)
An important moment in my life that would help someone is you see when your community is slowly changing into segregation but can also be a good community too . You see what caused people to kill and abused each other. Living in a terrible neighborhood with violence can caused all danger to the community. My community is a place with dangerous people who do drugs but can also help each other out . The community I lived in is were you can say “ help a brother out “to “*gunshots”.
The Day at the Store
I Remember as a young adult about 18-20 when me and my mother were at a local store and I was referred to as “boy” by a white man. My mother didn’t react calmly at all to this she yelled at the man for his disrespectful attitude and words. At first I had no clue why my mother would react like that.As time passed by and I grew older I realized she felt him calling me a “boy”was degrading. Because our past during segregation she explained how that reference would always be degrading no mater what.
Eric Armor
Many people are afraid to walk outside some are even afraid to walk their dog.but when you realize it’s your NEIGHBORHOOD you can control it yourself you can make it a better town than people who are afraid too.
The story of success through hard work
Delray Beach is a comma that is evolving it wasn’t as safe as it is now back in the days also wassants clean and everyone that lived in Delray pitched together to help the comm it as much fun it is now in Delray.
Great Place
Overall the community is great great family oriented neighborhood where everyone knows each other.
Ms.T my Second Mother
When my mother kicked me out of the house I spent nights sleeping in a park while trying to finish high school. I had no bed, no shower,and no food.I went back to my old neighborhood and knocked on the door of Ms.T she was a well known lady kind of like the mother of my neighborhood.All I wanted was something to eat. But Ms.T didn’t just give me a meal. She took me into her home, where he had warm food and a roof over his head she treated me like her very own son. She also brought…
Haiti
I came a long way from being born a poor country and coming to America to live a better life
We’re Doing Good
It’s nice living here, but the past… you don’t want to know. Now it’s nice. No break ins, no stealing… everyone gets along.
Living in boynton beach
The Boynton Beach incident took place in the early morning hours of Feb. 9. The men entered a home on Northwest Fourth Street, two of them with guns drawn. One pointed a revolver at the 19-year-old’s stomach, grabbed her by the back of her head and forced her to leave the house, police say.
Canidate Supreme Court
The Supreme Court being a candidate
Choose the right friends
Well growing up in the city of lake worth was bad for me I did drugs at the age of 16 cause my friend put me. On it my story is going to teach you about. How to choose the right friends
Love (Story #335)
When I returned from War I had a hard time adjusting. My father told our neighbor about how hard it was for me so he took among himself to give me a job which help me start my life over, he also gave other men in the town jobs as well. I still thank him til this day because if it wasn’t for the love he had I would have lost my mind and I never would have married his daughter and took over the family business.
Perseverance
In high school when i received a full ride to UF.
Don’t do nothing
Growing up in boynton wasn’t always the best we didn’t have the school we wanted we was in and out of Trouble my brother and I Was Trouble makers
Clean up the streets
What it’s like living in my neighborhood.Well you have 10th ave where the young boys sell drugs and the park where we have our little league football. Things bad around here no structure at all. Hopefully we can come together one day and clean up the streets .
Be forgiven
Growing up in Delray Beach Fl I was always a problem child I brought disappointment to my mom and family than that made me realize that what I did shouldn’t be happening anymore , my mom told me. “Baby don’t do that no more “ that’s the day I smiled remember it like it was yesterday
Y community
Thirty-five percent of participants stopped important activities after their events, with personal illnesses having this effect most frequently. In addition to these negative consequences, participants reported positive consequences of their stressful events for their lives.
End of an Era
I remember after the annual roots festival which took place every year a group of us would go on Atlantic ave and post up while the nice cars passed by after the festival let out. This was tradition up until 1999 when the than Delray Beach police Chief order his officer to suite up in riot gear and come disperse of the crowd. I remember feeling helpless and going home and asking my mom, Why would they treat us like that. This was well before police and community relationships mattered to our city leaders.
Dance- Rickia Petty
I was raised in a time that war was all too comfortable and it seemed everyone around me was in a frinzy. I learned how to dance with the songs in my head to help me get through those times.
Get some action going in Pahokee, FL!
From experience coming from New York to here, you have more help up there. It’s harder to find resources down here. I was in a bad relationship last year that left me homeless. There are no shelters around here. Now I am better but at the time I had no where to go. I saw a guy walking out of an empty building and was wondering what he was doing in there. People were sleeping in empty buildings. I’ve had a lot of good experiences too. A lot of mission teams came and helped people fix up their houses and…
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