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Common Ground Relief is run by a staff of long-term volunteer coordinators, based in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. Each coordinator focuses on a specific project area and facilitates the work of the thousands of short-term volunteers from all walks of life who have come to work with us since 2005.

We are looking for skilled individuals, both short and long term, to come and volunteer with us in the Lower 9th Ward. We are particularly looking for those with expertise in one of our project areas. If you have experience in construction, dry wall hanging, carpentry, painting, roofing, plumbing, electric work, legal aid, environmental science, media/PR, computer technology, education or any other field that you think may be helpful to our work, please let us know!

Volunteers must be willing to multi-task.

To get a an idea of what to expect from volunteering with Common Ground Relief, and how to prepare for your trip, visit our Volunteer Information page.

We also strongly recommend that potential volunteers take a look at the Katrina Reader to gain greater insight into the Hurricanes of 2005 and their social and historical context in New Orleans, as well as the article Where Oysters Grew On Trees to learn about the history of the Gulf Coast.

Long term volunteers are housed in communal facilities at 1800 Deslonde Street, while short term volunteers are housed in our new property directly next door! See the pictures below:

In order to apply, please download and fill out a volunteer application (doc or pdf)and email it to our volunteer coordinator.

We also host groups of volunteers, largely from Colleges and Universities - if you'd like to bring a group of volunteers down, please download and complete a group application (doc or pdf) and email it to our volunteer coordinator.

Allow one to two weeks for a response to your application.