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 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.
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.
I honestly feel this community is doing well. It’s gotten safer for the kids, way more opportunities have rised, and more jobs are becoming available. The setup is very clean and organized, government officials are doing their jobs, etc
Graduating high school was a important moment. I was the first one in my family to graduate so I feel like that’s special. Where we come from not everyone cares about school.
I was about 13 years old. I began to be bullied by the kids in my neighbor hood because my mom white and my father was black. What I didn’t know the was the my family was also being bullied too. I can still hear my father say to me “Son they talked about Jesus, the greatest man that walked the earth what makes you think they will not talk about you