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”).
Important moment in my life was just becoming a man. I had to learn to do for my self in these streets.
Losing a mother and being raised by an aunt. This ensured that I had to over come obstacles and pave a way for myself and siblings to get through life.
School wasn’t for me so I dropped out I don’t know why I made that choice but it must’ve been because I was. Hanging out with the wrong crowd And I was to busy in the streets instead of the books
When i was younger early 20s i moved to Boynton Beach from South Carolina and me and my sister had kids. It was really rough trying to do everything we was aware of any sources to help us we didn’t know about things like bridges and that would’ve been very useful. As i got older i knew about bridges Best thing of my life
When I returned from War I had a hard time adjusting. My father told our neighbor about how hard it was for me so he took among himself to give me a job which help me start my life over, he also gave other men in the town jobs as well. I still thank him til this day because if it wasn’t for the love he had I would have lost my mind and I never would have married his daughter and took over the family business.
If you ever pass by the Hester you’ll always see kids playing around. The Hester center is the spot to be for kids. That shows how kids today are not always in competition but they are family.