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”).
More and more Americans who struggle to get by are living in these marginalized, disinvested communities where jobs and educational opportunities are scarce, and an increasingly militarized police force is the primary contact residents have with government.
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.
One day was my nephews football game at Boynton high. We went out to support him. As we were there we noticed how much the community was bonding. Just at a football game you can tell that Boynton is not a bad place.
Growing up i had moved down from Haiti and the part i lived in there was a lot of white people so not only was i kind of racial profiled i was also picked on and make fun of because of my accent so that pretty much sums up what it was like. I was in trouble a lot because i was the type to always want to defend my self. I had a couple friends that’s guided me through but i still wanted my respect.
Going off to college, and meeting others from other neighborhood and making connections. My community prepared me for this.
Two positive, one positive being everyone is a whole, such as being a diversemulticultural community. Another being welcoming and feeling like a family from different races