Since January 2023, the CEAR Hub has worked with the Gullah Geechee community of Pin Point to identify and implement community-led solutions to enhance their resilience to climate and weather hazards. Partnering with the Pin Point Betterment Association, we have met monthly with the community to discuss challenges, opportunities, and potential actions. A community-based Ad Hoc Committee has worked in between these meetings to oversee and manage the projects. To date, the community has successfully requested a traffic study to be conducted by Chatham County and has received approval for traffic calming measures to be implemented. Pin Point has also been working to address flooding issues with Chatham County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. However, the first project to be fully completed is hurricane preparation of trees throughout the community, made possible with funding obtained by Senator Jon Ossoff. A certified arborist from Georgia Tree Solutions pruned weakened tree branches and removed trees posing a direct, imminent threat. This preparation will likely help to reduce power outages and potential storm damage.
The following summary was provided by Jasmine Smith, a descendant of Pin Point and member of the Pin Point Betterment Association’s Ad Hoc Committee:
“When we began considering what the community wanted to do with the grant funding, tree trimming was at the top of the list. Most residents in Pin Point face disadvantages so necessary tasks like preventing damage to home/properties or even accessibility during extreme weather conditions like hurricane season is a difficult task to carry out. In December 2023, we began to get quotes for the tree trimming project. We started with research on different companies in the area and decided on two to get the quotes from. We met with each company on two separate occasions and walked through Pin Point to have the properties accessed with property owners’ permission. We decided to go with Georgia Tree Solutions because not only was the quote more affordable, but the customer service and experience that went along with the assessment helped to make it an easy decision. We began the project in May 2024 and the project lasted for 3 1/2 weeks. Within those 3 1/2 weeks, the company completed work on 32 properties. The work included 45 trees that were either trimmed, cut back, or topped, and 22 trees that were removed. Thanks to the completion of this project, the residents can go into the next hurricane season with a peace of mind.”
