Came here from Lantana and lived here since 1970. Ran service desks in Lantana, but business became difficult and would have to borrow money to keep it running. Didn’t want to do that. Had two small kids to support and be around. Came out here quite by accident. Called out to a mechanic job in the area he found in the newspaper. Discovered Pahokee when he came down, and decided to move the whole family here. When he came down here, someone helped him out to pay off his dying business. He was lucky. Started working here, and living in a trailer. A lot of Jim Crow here, and he grew up in the North. He was a stranger to this. Did various jobs here. Father left home when he was 7. This experience made him determined to be a part of his kids lives.
Vulnerable: The community is vulnerable
Katrina
Hurricane
The Run
Was brought down from New Jersey with my mother
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.
Life in Pahokee
The most important moment in my life were having my children. The hospital is now closed and it has really effected our community. We now have to drive to Belle Glade for healthcare. I came here in November 1970, married here in 1974. The roads on the way to my house have been needing fixing for years and nothing has been done. All the other roads have been fixed but they don’t care about ours in East Lake Village. I like Pahokee, its a nice quiet neighborhood. It’s not all that hustling and bustling like a big city.
Diverse
It’s uneventful because it’s quite, peaceful and with lovely people.
Family is everything
I come from west of Delray where we worked the fields. I remember when I was young our neighborhood would have large dinners after church but you can’t do that anymore because parents these days don’t go to church and we wonder why it’s so much disrespect and killings. We forgot that the community is family and with out it everything is going to crumble.
What glitters isn’t gold
I am well known in my neighborhood. I have lived many places because of the hype others speak about but I always end up back here where it all started. Many places had nice homes, scenery and a lot of people but those places were missing Soul and Character. Here I have my family and my church and at this age that’s all I need
Live for today enjoy yours plans for tomorrow
I love to dance, I love art and I love my community. I am a retired reading teacher and a Sunday school teacher. I raised 6 kids and have been married for 36 years. I have lived in my community for around 39 years and would not move for anything.
Change (Story #334)
When I first moved here years and years ago I was robbed by one of the teenagers. I didn’t know many people but when I saw his face I remembered him. I spoke to his parents about it and they made him apologize and repay me. I forgave the young man and he became like a son to me