“We Are Here” Stories (List View)

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”).


Sep 13, 2018

Love. Your mom

Well growing up was pretty hard for me my mom didn’t always have the bills paid on time didn’t always Keep a house but. One I got really tired of it and started doing things I regret instead of waiting for her to get right and me getting a job
Oct 14, 2018

Get some action going in Pahokee, FL!

From experience coming from New York to here, you have more help up there. It’s harder to find resources down here. I was in a bad relationship last year that left me homeless. There are no shelters around here. Now I am better but at the time I had no where to go. I saw a guy walking out of an empty building and was wondering what he was doing in there. People were sleeping in empty buildings. I’ve had a lot of good experiences too. A lot of mission teams came and helped people fix up their houses and that’s nice to see. The First Methodist Church makes you feel really welcomed and help a lot. Pahokee isn’t that bad it just needs some work. Only a few people show up to the town meetings and obviously nothing is going to get done if no one is telling them what we need.
Dec 10, 2018

After the Storm

After Hurricane Jeanne and Frances, all the neighbors were checking on each other, sharing resources and in general reaching out to support each other, even though on a day to day basis, there may not be much interaction.
Nov 17, 2018

Humor saves lives-Rickia

When I was a teenager, I was the smallest kid in my neighborhood. I got beat up, pushed around and joked on all the time until I learned how to tell jokes and make everyone laugh.
Oct 4, 2018

The man stealing

Growing up I was a Haitian immigrants. in my neighborhood was very rough I was talked about you a lot because my skin tone and how I spoke. one time I was walking anyway and a man was stealing from the store. The police Soon arrived and bodyslammed the man on the ground to simply handcuff him.this wasn’t the first time I seen your officer be extremely rude and rough with someone they were always extremely late and rude in my neighborhood.
Mar 4, 2019

Up from the muck

I was an escort for the elite community club. It had a huge impact on me to be connected with the community.