Work Assignments

Common Ground, New Orleans, LA
Students: Tom Baxter, Jack O'Brien, Eli Roeschke, Dan Stefanides

Common Ground's mission is to provide short-term relief for victims of hurricane disasters in the gulf coast region, and long-term support in rebuilding the communities affected in the New Orleans area. Since its inception immediately after Katrina, Common Ground has grown to over 40 fulltime organizers and hundreds of volunteers including health care workers, community organizers, skilled laborers, techies, legal and housing rights advocates, gardeners and more. Common Ground runs a number of programs and campaigns that students may get involved with. A couple of examples of volunteer opportunityes include Emergency Home Repair: Volunteer crews assist residents in tarping, cleaning, gutting and mold work in homes, churches and community centers. Legal and Eviction Defense Work: Free lawyers and legal advocates counsel residents on their rights, organize against evictions, and work to address police abuses. For more information about the many other programs Common Ground runs, check out their website.

Gert Town Revival Initiative (GRI)
Students: Alyssa Jordan, Matt Dourdis

The Gert Town Revival Initiative (GRI) is a non-profit, community-based organization in the Gert Town neighborhood of New Orleans whose mission is to “revitalize and develop Gert Town and the adjacent community through programs, activities, and services that will enhance the total quality of life” for neighborhood residents.
Founded in 2003, GRI initially was formed to advocate for the successful clean-up of the Thompson Hayward Chemical plant which sits in the Mid-City area of New Orleans and on the edge of Gert Town. The Thompson Hayward site contains 9 million pounds of contaminants according to testimony provided by Rev. Lois Dejean, Executive Director of GRI. During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gert Town took on floodwaters and the physical condition of the Thompson Hayward site worsened. Working with representatives form Advocates for Environmental Human Rights and environmental expert, Wilma Subra, neighborhood residents and GRI were able to determine that much of their neighborhood has elevated contamination levels post-Katrina. In addition, due to the floodwaters of the breached levees, the neighborhood currently has many of the same rebuilding challenges of other New Orleans neighborhoods: much of the population is displaced, much of the housing stock was destroyed and there is little clear direction about how neighborhood rebuilding should proceed. In the face of these challenges, GRI is working to revitalize this section of the City. One of their major current projects is a property inventory database that will identify and map all properties (parcels) located within the GRI boundaries; inclusive of current ownership information available from public records and blighted, vacant and adjudicated properties.

New Orleans Workers’ Center For Racial Justice
Students: Elissa Canizzaro, Matt Durkin, Joe Fusco, Jen Herrmann, Matt Hoban, Maureen Rozanski, Phil Schwartz, Emily Walsh

New Orleans Workers’ Center For Racial Justice is a dynamic team of African American and immigrant Katrina Justice Organizers.

One year after Hurricane Katrina, African American survivors are locked out of work in the reconstruction. African American workers are systematically excluded, facing tremendous barriers to returning home. Meanwhile, immigrant workers are locked into an unjust reconstruction. Lured into New Orleans by the thousands after the storm, they are now systematically exploited. And the two communities are pitted against each other in a race to the bottom.

The New Orleans Workers’ Center For Racial Justice is dedicated to organizing across race and industry, building power for workers, and advancing racial justice in post-Katrina New Orleans. The Center aims to build a Black-immigrant movement in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to fight for a Just Reconstruction. The Center is currently organizing African American survivors; foreign guest workers on H2B visas; and immigrant day laborers.