Frequency: Happens all the time

Preparation

Going off to college, and meeting others from other neighborhood and making connections. My community prepared me for this.

Giving Back

Belle is a small community where family orientation is key to helping others and contributing to providing support everyone. We are constantly asking individuals who has left the the city to come back to the city and contribute.

A helping hand

I moved here from Haiti with my grandmother. I was kicked out at 16. Luckily I had friend to help me with money and a job.

Hard on your own

When I graduate from high school and went to college. I. Was the first in my family go off to school. My family was poor so he will work and different jobs he had to ask for loans. It was very hard.

It’s not what it seems.

Others assume that it is bad, but its not what it seems. It’s rich in tradition, there is a lot of love. Don’t let the violence, create a image for you. Come here and see the love.

Scared

I never thought me growing up was so ruff for me. My mom and dad died in a car accident. I was raised by my grandparents raised me until they past away I been living from house to house in finish house still didn’t go off to college .

Resilience comes at a cost

Working with a single mother who had become homeless in a neighborhood that she was raised in to find resources was very difficult. She didn’t want to be judged, labeled, or marginalized. But living now in the same neighborhood she once thrived in, gave her a new perspective as she realized the severe resource scarcity she was facing with 2 young children. Her story made me realize that life can happen to anyone and anytime and having access to resources in your own neighborhood can truly make an impact in how you bounce back from a traumatic event in your life.