As Nicole Castro stepped onto the dance floor at Pub 52 in South Miami this past November, the 2010 Flo Rida classic “Club Can’t Handle Me” blared from the speakers. She was alone, surrounded by a mesmerized crowd of 150 people.

Hidden by gardens and tall banyan trees just south of Greynolds Park on West Dixie Highway is a sanctuary boasting Gothic architecture and a compelling history. The Ancient Spanish Monastery is, “the oldest building in the Western Hemisphere,”  according to tour guide Elise Lindley.

Dionne Thompson moved from Jamaica to Miami when she was 33 years old with her four children. She’s a single mom who drives trucks and cleans alley ways for the village of Miami Shores. On May 23, her youngest daughter, Shakalah will graduate from law school at Boston College after seven years of full-ride scholarship.