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”).
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.
In December 2017, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, undertook a two-week investigation on the effects of systemic poverty in the United States, and sharply condemned private wealth and public squalor
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.
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.
I grew up in the trenches I was selling dope and getting bad grades in school and the someone wanted to put me on the path to success and I was not selling dope and I was getting good grades
I mean pretty much what my sister said our family was very loving we had everything we needed when we were struggling we didn’t even notice my family with a great family and we stuck together through everything we kept our business out of the streets