Common Ground Relief - House of Excellence

Common Ground Thanks Marina Drummer

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:08:22 +0000

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.

Housing Protests Gets Unofficially Ignored by Nagin

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 21:50:06 +0000

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.

History and overview

Sat, 12 May 2007 00:26:58 +0000

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.

Computer Lab in Mid City

Fri, 11 May 2007 03:10:20 +0000

Thanks to a recent donation of computers, the Common Ground Tech team was able to establish a new computer lab at the Mid-City location.