Volunteers Needed for New Orleans Rebuilding

If you're a plumber, electrician or skilled laborer looking to help others in need, Common Ground is asking you to join the rebuilding effort in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, according to a volunteer-seeking email sent out by the organization this week.

Common Ground is a relief collective formed after the levees collapsed during Hurricane Katrina, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans. Among the neighborhoods that were hardest hit was the Lower Ninth Ward, located near one of the major breaches of the Industrial Canal levee. More than two years after Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, much of the Ninth Ward remains empty of homes and people.

Since it began operations in the first week after Katrina, Common Ground has enlisted volunteers who have helped gut thousands of damaged homes in the city. It is now preparing to start rebuilding projects, and is looking for skilled volunteers who are willing to dedicate their time and efforts to help.

"We urgently need skilled labor -- plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and drywall hangers," an email from Common Ground stated. "Many people have answered the call and we can no longer house volunteers for the week of December 15 through December 21. All other dates are still open."

Common Ground provides free food and dorm-style housing for long-term volunteers at several locations in the Ninth Ward. Volunteers who can't commit to at least two weeks are asked to find their own accommodations, but are still encouraged to offer any help they can.

In addition to gutting and rebuilding homes, Common Ground also operates a free medical clinic in Algiers (across the Mississippi River from New Orleans); distributes food, water and other supplies; provides residents and evacuees with legal support; supports alternative energy and wetlands restoration projects; and runs a "community adoption program" in which individuals or groups can "adopt" a home, school, church or block of houses for repair and reconstruction.

Common Ground, "Common Ground Needs Your Help" (email sent to supporters on Sept. 25, 2007). URL: (http://www.commongroundrelef.org)