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”).
In 2011, child poverty reached record high levels, with 16.7 million children living in food insecure households, about 35% more than 2007 levels.A 2013 UNICEF report ranked the U.S. as having the second highest relative child poverty rates in the developed world.According to a 2016 study by the Urban Institute, teenagers in low income communities are often forced to join gangs, save school lunches, sell drugs or exchange sexual favors because they cannot afford food.
Till this day we still don’t have freedom back where I was growing up I was beat for nothing accuse for nothing the police hated my kind
Growing up in the ghetto is rough. I managed to get out and I’m never going back, but the lessons I learned about human nature will stay with me forever
Divisions between the group and society can become exaggerated. Insular beliefs can grow. Prejudice is supported and expands. Gangs are communities, racist organizations are communities, political and religious extremists are communities. And that is how something that can be so healthy, beneficial, and supportive can be bad for you.
Graduating high school was a important moment. I was the first one in my family to graduate so I feel like that’s special. Where we come from not everyone cares about school.