House of Excellence

Marina Drummer, dedicated advocate of Common Ground Relief and the Angola 3, passed a pleasant visit with friend and ally Robert King (of the Angola 3) at New Orleans' House of Excellence before they proceeded on to Baton Rouge.

Recently, Common Ground Relief was excited to welcome a very special friend as she visited Common Ground sites with co-founder Malik Rahim.

Common Ground is different from many organizations in that it was not begun in an office building, with a budget laid out and a board in place. Common Ground began with friends reaching out to each other in a time of deep need, in the spirit of mutual aid. Marina was just such a friend who answered the call for help even before Katrina's waters had left the city, and right beside Common Ground is where she has stayed, giving assistance and guidance in countless forms.

Homeless in New Orleans? Sleep safely in Duncan Plaza, at least for the weekend.

With the Essence Festival soaking up tourists’ dollars only a block away, Mayor Ray Nagin has directed police to leave homeless folks in the small park outside city hall unmolested.

The homeless were invited to participate in a 24-hour tent city staged in the plaza by organizations representing renters, displaced public housing residents, as well as the homeless in the city. More than 50 protestors gathered at the site for July 4th – including a delegation of survivors from the 2004 tsunami.

The mayor’s generosity is no doubt linked to Essence celebrating its post-Katrina return to the city.

Common Ground Collective's House of Excellence is located in Mid-City at 215 N Jefferson Davis Parkway just off Canal Street. It was originally established in the 9th Ward and moved in January of 2007 to its present location. The new location continues to serve as a resource center for local and returning residents. The facility offers many services all completely free of charge. Some of the services include a computer lab, telephones and fax machine, copying, legal aid as well as a legal clinic every Saturday with pro-bono lawyers.

The house of Excellence also houses the Media Collective, Tech Collective, Wetlands Project, and some of the Administration resources for Common Ground Collective.

Common Ground Mid-City (formerly the 'House of Excellence') moved from it's location on Franklin Street to its current location at 215 N Jefferson Davis Parkway. We are very happy with our new location, but it has left us with a few new, and some ongoing items on our wish list. Please help out where you can, contact us at commongroundmidcity@gmail.com if you need a receipt of donation for tax purposes.

updated May 2007

KITCHEN:
- 1-2 large pots with lids
- Large skillet
- bakeware (bread pan, muffin tin, glass baking pan, cookie sheets, etc)
- measuring cup(s)
- glasses and bowls
- forks and spoons
- oven mits &/or pot holders
FOOD & DRINK:
- Emergen-C drink packets
- Nuts, Trail mix, dried fruit
- Luna bars, Clif bars or other protein bars
- gift cards for Sav-A-Center, Winn Dixie, or Whole Foods
- cash for farmer's market produce
- homemade goodies (jam, preserves, etc)
OFFICE SUPPLIES:
- ink pens
- NEC Superscript 1800 printer (We've got the toner, but need a working printer to match)
- Staplers and staples
- manila envelopes, various sizes
- blank CDs
- packing tape
- gift cards for Office Depot
CLEANERS:
(Please, no bleach. If possible please give earth-friendly, non-toxic cleaning products.)
- all-purpose bathroom/kitchen cleaners
- dish soap
TOILETRIES:
- Toilet paper
- Hand & body soap
- Shaving razors
- toothpaste and brushes
- Gift cards for Walgreens
- Lotion
MISC SUPPLIES:
- Energy saver light bulbs
- large trash bags
- rechargable batteries
"BIG TICKET" ITEMS:
- Vehicle w/ decent gas mileage
- Bicycles for Volunteers
- Computer software (we use open source whenever possible, but we could still use a few copies of Office and Filemaker Pro)
- laptop computers (used are fine)
- More tech items on our tech wish list
- $24,000 to cover rent & utilities for a year

 
 
....and volunteers! Whether it's two weeks or two years, we need you to come down & get involved.