Growing up in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Michael Ulibarri didn’t have what he calls “the best examples.” There was love in his childhood home, but there were drugs in the garage. When he was a toddler, being pushed along in his stroller, chances were some relative had packed drugs in there with him.

Whitley D. English has spent her entire life in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s where she grew up, worked and raised her two children. It’s also where she survived the most traumatic experience of her life: intimate partner violence. 

She was left with two black eyes, multiple facial fractures, a missing tooth and a hospital stay. “I was left with a long road to recovery and justice,” she said.  

The neighborhood where Chester Dewitt grew up, known as Chad Brown, has a reputation. “There came a time that whenever a violent crime made the news, it was called ‘Chad Brown-related,’” he said. 

When the property tax bill arrives, it is more than just a number. For some residents, that envelope signals the start of impossible choices: food or housing? Medication or mortgage? 

Gail Latimore has spent 30 years at the helm of Codman Square NDC.