Working with a single mother who had become homeless in a neighborhood that she was raised in to find resources was very difficult. She didn’t want to be judged, labeled, or marginalized. But living now in the same neighborhood she once thrived in, gave her a new perspective as she realized the severe resource scarcity she was facing with 2 young children. Her story made me realize that life can happen to anyone and anytime and having access to resources in your own neighborhood can truly make an impact in how you bounce back from a traumatic event in your life.

Came here from Lantana and lived here since 1970. Ran service desks in Lantana, but business became difficult and would have to borrow money to keep it running. Didn’t want to do that. Had two small kids to support and be around. Came out here quite by accident. Called out to a mechanic job in the area he found in the newspaper. Discovered Pahokee when he came down, and decided to move the whole family here. When he came down here, someone helped him out to pay off his dying business. He was lucky. Started working here, and living in a trailer. A lot of Jim Crow here, and he grew up in the North. He was a stranger to this. Did various jobs here. Father left home when he was 7. This experience made him determined to be a part of his kids lives.

I am a tailor. People know me. When i come to belle glade, the community is so close that everyone comes to me. When i am not working in the field this is how i make money. Everybody knows me and my reputation and that is why everyone comes to me regardless of Haitian or American whatever.

Whole city supported each other

Most Americans will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between ages 25 and 75.Poverty rates are persistently higher in rural and inner city parts of the country as compared to suburban areas.Estimates of the number of Americans living in poverty are nuanced. One organization estimated that in 2015, 13.5% of Americans (43.1 million) lived in poverty

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.