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.” Explore 50 responses below, selected at random. Which stories capture your attention? (Some responses were transcribed by youth volunteers.) To learn more about the storyteller and how they interpreted their response, click “Zoom In.”
The Field
Once my youth football team no field to play on. My coach tried everything to raise money and get one. He reached out to the Mayor. The mayor helped and got us one.
My husband- Devonte white
Coming up I had alot of important moments in my life. I was finding my husband and i still remember how theres where. Until he was killed by a drive by shooting.
Give god the glory-billy penn
Living in this neighborhood is not about the drugs and the alcohol I was born in 1947 in Delray Beach hoping kids don’t follow in my foot steps if I got a problem I don’t do drugs but around people that do good and bad in my childhood never went to school
My community (Story #370)
More and more Americans who struggle to get by are living in these marginalized, disinvested communities where jobs and educational opportunities are scarce, and an increasingly militarized police force is the primary contact residents have with government. But for two years, Americans have been expressing confusion as one neighborhood after another from one city to another
Don’t do nothing
Growing up in boynton wasn’t always the best we didn’t have the school we wanted we was in and out of Trouble my brother and I Was Trouble makers
The Fundraiser
I am very close to everyone in my community. I’ve been battling pneumonia and leukemia for many years now and my insurance stop paying for a lot of my hospital funds.My Neighbors and community as a whole raised money for me. They raised at least $78,000 to help me pay my hospital bills.
The Ghetto
My House was shot at
lost and found
one moment in my life is the time when this girl was kidnapped right and the whole community came togheter to help find her.
Safety
The infrastructure
Accused for nothing
I was driving to the corner store and came across a police scene. I walk inside and asked what’s going on. The clerk says that it’s nothing they just came outta do nowhere and started bothering the folks outside. No violence or disruptions going on but they were being harassed.
Support (Story #618)
Community get together
My community (Story #367)
42% the death of a family member or friend, 23% the illness of a family member or friend, and 17% a nonmedical event. During a comprehensive assessment, participants identified the most stressful event that they had experienced in the past 5 years and, subsequently, rated its stressfulness and perceived consequences.
More for us
The family orientated community , everyone works together in order to promote a better community. But the city might be on a economically.
Get it on your own
Getting my first job was a important moment in my life living around here . Nobody will give you anything , so I had to go get it. It made me a better person and now I live comfortably
Community man-Rickia
I pride myself on being the ladies’ man. I love the attention I got from the neighborhood women but not the m
Eric Armor
Many people are afraid to walk outside some are even afraid to walk their dog.but when you realize it’s your NEIGHBORHOOD you can control it yourself you can make it a better town than people who are afraid too.
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
Love at first sight
Im Native American and I was in college when i met my husband. I was at lunch eating my food and some football players came and tried to take my food then my husband i did not know was going to be my husband came and defended me.
Becoming a man- Devonte white
Important moment in my life was just becoming a man. I had to learn to do for my self in these streets.
The Child Who Looked Different
When growing up I was mixed with African American and Chinese . I would get picked on very often especially when my Chinese mother would drop me off to school. Many kids would question me if I were to claim to be African American like my father. All the kids I grew up with would pick on me and my facial features that favored my mother. Which also made me a very guard child because I didn’t like when people would question my ethnicity even to this day.
Moslead
Well growing up in my neighborhood i had a sister and brother and my mother didn’t take care of me. Her mother did but there was a lot of that going on back then where mothers didn’t raise there children and i feel like that’s a major issues that’s why we have so many mislead children in the current generation
We’re Doing Good
It’s nice living here, but the past… you don’t want to know. Now it’s nice. No break ins, no stealing… everyone gets along.
Thank god i am living in a small community.
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.
Violence (Story #609)
Gun violence
Good community (Story #249)
An important moment in my life is when my mom died. Everyone in the community came together to help me and my family out. People actually are good around here for the most part.
Living
Well I’m Greg light and growing up in my neighborhood was ok. I wasn’t rich but i wasn’t poor there was always food on the table and i always had clothes. there were people who had nothing and there were people who had more. Ofc there was fights and violence but that’s in every hood.
Do the right thing (Story #459)
One shooting happens then later on another shooting happens. Why is this gun violence going on for. This should be stopped. That’s could’ve been one of my grandchild or anybody else’s. Kids need to stopped taking life for granted and d the right thing.
The Silents of the Community
My neighborhood is quite rough. There are many crimes they are usually by the same people. I speak to the police but I don’t see everything. I remember coming home from work and finding out about the 10 year old that got killed from a drive by. I know there was a lot of witnesses but they wouldn’t speak to the police that was at least 5 years ago and even now the crime hasn’t been solved.
Long time ago- laroderick
When I joined my high school cheerleading team and I realized that the coach for my high school cheerleading team was the same coach I had when I was in delray Rocks cheerleading team of someone was to think about that noticing how small and connected Delray Beach is that we could I could be on different cheerleading teams at two different money’s in my life and have the same exact coach till this day I am 23 and still connected to that coach I am the god mother of her daughter
Changebis needed
Being stopped by the police all the time because of what I look like. Police love stopping and asking questions. Not matter what the age. But it does matter what the color. That needs to change.
Surviving
Living around here is pretty tough. At times you realize how people act as a community and how everything is seen. On an individual level it depends on how you look at it. All the things kind of go not so well. Growing up here i realized that this is a survival city. If you can survive here, you can survive anywhere. Living here will toughen you up or fold you. There is no in between. I wish as a community as a whole people could see the daily struggles. A few individuals ruin it for the whole. For examples…
Basketball- Devonte white
I believe basketball was a important moment for me . It changed my life so many ways. It taught me things i can also use in life
Wake up
Important moment is when me and my friends got older . When we was young we didn’t know what was going on. But we was aware of the things once we was teenagers. All the drug dealers and murders opened our eyes
Spooky
Dangerous
My neighborhood (Story #340)
I have to lived my lifeI have been living in my neighborhood every since I was a child. I grew up here, Raised my children here and retired here. I grew up in a timely when neighbors cared your children and everyone cared for each other. Went all African-American children went to one school and church was of the upmost importance.
When play turns tragic
A boy was once tragically hit by a train. I stayed clear of the tracks after that incident . The train tracks were right in front of my home.
Bullied- Rickia
I was about 13 years old. I began to be bullied by the kids in my neighbor hood because my mom white and my father was black. What I didn’t know the was the my family was also being bullied too. I can still hear my father say to me “Son they talked about Jesus, the greatest man that walked the earth what makes you think they will not talk about you
Stay in achool
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
My community (Story #553)
Living in a poor neighborhood can change everything , Among the younger generation, the same number of black children continued to grow up in the very poorest neighborhoodsNothing had changed.Many people live in a bad neighborhood to save money but many people live in bad neighborhoods because they don’t want to let go of the past yet
One Big Family
My neighbor next door made sure that I got home safely from school while my parents were at work. The community was one big family.
The run
A important impact for understanding why I live in this neighborhood is slavery I been living hea for almost 50 years
The Life
Me and my family moved from down here from New Jersey and the people here in this neighborhood helped me build this house for me and my 4 kids
Snitches get stitches
In my neighborhood there has been many killings, fights all of that. My son was recently killed at a house party. The saddest thing about it was no one seen anything which I don’t believe this community needs to let go of the whole idea “snitches get stitches”
Bright Futures
One 4th of July we had a family gathering at the park. We were having a great time with each other. My niece was playing in the play ground and started offering if others would want to join, strangers at that. This showed me that kids now a days are warm headed and caring. The future is bright.
Agriculture
Fields
Choose the ine
Growing up where I was coming from was a whole different State of Florida. I was coming up and Alabama than moved down here to delray beach Florida cause my aunt. Stayed down here. I met tons of Friends who Made me get in trouble from time to time it wasn’t all find and games. But choose right. People you hang with
Katrina
Hurricane
Fun days
I grew up in Spartanburg South Carolina it was nothing like it was today. When i was younger around 16 we was aloud to go out and have a good time. When i was 18 me and my cousin went to the pool and we met two guys and they asked if we wanted to go out and we agreed but there was two similar cars and they got out to go get something but i grew impatient. I was in the wrong car blowing the horn and they come out the house and caught me in the car understanding…
Can’t take the muck out of the muck.
You could make a living. If you wanted to work, there was work. Finished high school (Lakeshore, 67). Moved to Hartford, CT. 8 siblings. Spent half his life here. Tired of cold weather up north. Retired and came home. Has two kids (grown up). It’s home.
20 years teaching in the glades
Growing up for an interview at P.H.S to be a teacher I had to compete with another teacher and a number of the people in the interview become very good friends and I Romberg the teachers at the cool try to adapt to the school to become a teacher. And I am bless that I been able to teach multiple teachers in the classes. By the time I was retire I was teaching the children and grandchildren of the student I taught
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