“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”).


Sep 12, 2018

Don’t judge

Well when I was going to lake worth high school it wasn’t a school for black kids it was on a segregated school Due to the people around us our community was dying no one liked the colored folks
Sep 12, 2018

Learn to love

“People may say hurtful things “ growing up a different color doesn’t mean you don’t have different blood
Sep 19, 2018

Something out of nothing

Boynton Beach high schools prom walk through was cancelled. I remember my Bruce being upset about it. Then she got the news that one of the students told everybody that it was at his house. So they all came together to make it a real walk through. This shows how you can make something out of nothing.
Sep 19, 2018

Sports (Story #504)

Important moments in my life was sports. Growing up around here I had to be into something so I didn’t get caught in the street life. My parents didn’t want me to In up in jail.
Feb 21, 2019

Resilience comes at a cost

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.
Oct 5, 2018

Live for today enjoy yours plans for tomorrow

I love to dance, I love art and I love my community. I am a retired reading teacher and a Sunday school teacher. I raised 6 kids and have been married for 36 years. I have lived in my community for around 39 years and would not move for anything.