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Truist.com Truist Bank, Member FDIC. © 2022 Truist Financial Corporation. Truist, the Truist logo and Truist Purple are ser vice marks of Truist Financial Corporation. Care isn't just what we do at Truist—it's who we are. We make sure people around us feel supported and more in control. We find out what's important to our clients, and make it important to us. We get involved in meaningful ways with our communities. Why? Because real connections and real care create better outcomes. Now that's powerful. When you start with care, you get a different kind of bank. laypeople. Segregation created Black-led institutions like the Lundy Hospital and Amelia Hutchings Library, where skilled Black doctors, nurses and librarians served residents. Pleasant Hill fell victim to the forced development of I-75, which destroyed hundreds of homes and caused governmental neglect, creating a mass exodus out of Pleasant Hill to newly de-segregated neighborhoods. The annual median income of Pleasant Hill is approximately $18,000 compared to about $41,000 for Macon-Bibb, according to the Middle Georgia Regional Commission. Nevertheless, Muhammad manifests his commitment to preserving and protecting Pleasant Hill's historic roots by providing valuable guidance to PHNO during its establishment, rooted in the efforts of the previous Pleasant Hill Neighborhood Association. "Our ancestors were the original group that worked tirelessly on behalf of this community. The foundation they laid for us is now coupled with the good intent and talent of those in the Pleasant Hill Neighborhood Organization, to maintain this neighborhood as one worthy of respect, dignity and support by its residents and all Macon," said Muhammad. Williams agrees with Muhammad, and sees the organization as guardians of Pleasant Hill's gates. The elder Hassan planted the seeds of his commitment. When Williams was transitioning from a troubled youth to a responsible man, Hassan took him under his wings and guided him towards his current place as a neighborhood leader. Today, in addition to serving as a PHNO member, his lawncare business maintains two community parks there. "Being a part of this community has made me always willing to make sacrifices. As a member of this organization, you must desire to see change here," Williams stated. "You definitely have to be about the work." Like Muhammad and Williams, Huston is applying what she's learned along the way. "What I bring is the knowledge and ability to open doors. Those things make me accountable to the neighborhood," she added. "I consider Pleasant Hill my family, too." ABOVE: YOLANDA LATIMORE LOOKS AT GRAVESITES IN HISTORIC LINWOOD CEMETERY 112 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022