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”).
When I was little times were easy. Wasn’t much crime and this was claim. But these days these kids are around here killing each other.
Important moment In my life was when my brother died . It made me realize that the streets of Boynton Beach are not for anyone. Things really got bad around here.
Once i was walking with my grandma. She lived by my school so she would walk to pick me up everyday and while we were walking we heard arguing and my grandma gripped my hand and started walker fast she said come on boy walk fast i said grandma we should help them she said shut you mouth and mind your business i wouldn’t dare say another word because my grandma didn’t play the radio. When we had walked into the house she fixed me a snack as she usually would and we heard gun shots I looked at ,y grand,a and she acted like nothing happened she looked at me and said eat your food and we never brought it up again
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.
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.
I wish the community was better. They need to get more resources. More places for people to go. Not much is in Belle Glade to do and enjoy. You can make a living in Belle Glade. I moved from Georgia in 2001. I liked Georgia better because it was cheaper. But I still like it here. A young boy got killed back in 2016. He was running and the police shot him 3-4 times. We need more enforcement here in Belle Glade, because that’s not supposed to happen. The officer is still in the force. The force used to be good back in the days. But not anymore.