Palm Beach County 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.
The stories and micro-narratives they submitted (as part of the We Are Here SenseMaker project) are listed below. Click ZOOM IN to learn more about the community member and how they interpreted their submission. NOTE: Some stories were partially transcribed by volunteers who shortened the narratives and referred to the storytellers in the third person (e.g., “her experience was” instead of “my experience was”).
Getting off drugs changed my life. I was on drugs bad and i had to realize who i was. I went to rehab to get my life together and things been good ever sense.
Getting into sports was important in my life. It’s wasn’t that many options for me because I didn’t want to be a doctor or anything. So I played sports to keep me off the streets.
Growing up in my neighborhood i was the only white kid there but i tried so hard to fit in. I would just go with the flow of doing what the others did. I couldn’t play football at all and i couldn’t play basketball but that’s something everyone was great at but i was a great runner and when we raced everyone wanted to be on my team or wanted me to be on there’s and it made me feel great
In my neighborhood there has been many killings, fights all of that. My son was recently killed at a house party. The saddest thing about it was no one seen anything which I don’t believe this community needs to let go of the whole idea “snitches get stitches”
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.