“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”).


Feb 21, 2019

One Big Family

My neighbor next door made sure that I got home safely from school while my parents were at work. The community was one big family.
Sep 24, 2018

The Life

Me and my family moved from down here from New Jersey and the people here in this neighborhood helped me build this house for me and my 4 kids
Sep 26, 2018

Clean up the streets

What it’s like living in my neighborhood.Well you have 10th ave where the young boys sell drugs and the park where we have our little league football. Things bad around here no structure at all. Hopefully we can come together one day and clean up the streets .
Sep 19, 2018

In my community

We came closest to integration in 1988, when nearly half of all African-American children attended majority white schools. Since then, districts have been casting off federal court orders like rusted shackles. The result, a Government Accountability Office report found in the spring of 2016, the number of African American and Hispanic students attending segregated schools is rapidly growing.
Sep 14, 2018

Don’t become

Growing was odd for me I was thinking that if I do this I’ll become better but me doing it didn’t make me come better it made me. A threat to the system now I can’t get the job I want all because I seen the. Grown ups doing things
Sep 10, 2018

Change (Story #42)

Growing up where I came from their were gangs bangers , drug dealers Listen ima talk about things that can change in the future