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”).
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.
Important moment in my life is when my mom died . I was 22 and was in college I came home and stayed never went back . Since then I found a job and been around the city ever since . Can’t really say it’s bad but it has its negative and positive.
Gunshots in the middle of the day preventing you from leaving your home
When I first moved here years and years ago I was robbed by one of the teenagers. I didn’t know many people but when I saw his face I remembered him. I spoke to his parents about it and they made him apologize and repay me. I forgave the young man and he became like a son to me
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.