By Ann Hill Bond, Collier Heights Guest Editor
In partnership with the Center for Civic Innovation
Neighbors with Adair Park Today came together this weekend at Muscogee Park—not just to clean, but to care. Mulch was laid, weeds pulled, native flowers planted with quiet intention. It felt less like a project and more like a gathering—people honoring land and memory at the same time.
Beneath every footstep is a deeper truth: this land once belonged to the Muscogee (Creek) people. Long before streets and city lines, they cared for it. Between 1827 and 1837, they were forced from Georgia — torn from the soil they had tended for generations. And yet, the park holds them. Hold their memory with intention. A lending library filled with the voices of Indigenous authors. Beds of native flora that remember what once thrived here. The park honors that past with native plants and a lending library filled with Indigenous authors.
Moments like this remind us: when a community tends to the land together, they’re also tending to what’s been lost, and making room for what can grow in its place.
By Audrey Hamm, Intern
Come out this Saturday to learn more about “Empowering Self, Empowering Community,” hosted by the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership. This annual Neighbors Together Community Leadership Initiative supports neighborhood leaders, and this year the team will discuss self-care.
The keynote speaker will be Shawntà Hooks, a mindfulness facilitator, speaker, and CEO of Mindful Culture Creators, which works to transform workplaces by fostering inclusivity and mindfulness.
ADNP invites neighbors, neighborhood leaders, HOA members, homeowners, faith and nonprofit organizations, local business owners and more to join them for this free event on June 14. Register here.
