Ithacan Anna Ritter has been volunteering with Commonground Collective since September. Living in an abandoned preschool, her volunteer group works as needed. They help distribute food, clothing and cleaning supplies, remove reuined refrigerators, demolish moldy and wet sheetrock and rebuild walls. They have called for others to travel to New Orleans to help in their vital work. Here is their statement.
Since the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans has been immersed in one of the hardest times in its history. Now, over two months after the catastrophe, signs of recovery are easily seen. Well-lit skyscrapers attest to the restoration of power in many areas, and the small but growing number of tourists around the French Quarter and downtown are helping bars, restaurants, and small businesses get back on track after weeks of uncertainty. Flood waters have been mostly pumped out, people are cleaning out their damaged homes, and some kind of normalcy is taking root in the Big Easy. But these small successes in the most visible parts of town tell only part of the story. A closer look in many areas provides a far more sobering picture. Basic services remain months, if not years, away from re-establishment. Schools aren’t set to reopen for another year, as buildings are damaged and filthy, and children are scarce, few having been able to safely return home with their families.
Throughout Eastern New Orleans and in the 9th Ward, electric power has yet to be restored. Thousands of homes remain untouched, their former occupants either unable or unwilling to return. And for those who do come back, the work to clean up and restore their homes will become a full-time, unpaid job. Mold and toxins coat the walls, sometimes even the ceilings. Water has irreparably destroyed furniture, clothes, and other possessions. In the kitchens stand refrigerators and freezers filled with food that has been rotting since August, leaking onto floors and creating a health hazard of putridity that would turn the strongest stomach.
Animals still lie dead in gutters and on sidewalks and yards, their remains so decomposed and dessicated that the skeletons and tattered fur no longer even stink. Street signs blown down by the winds of Katrina or Rita have not been replaced, so now those unfamiliar with the city-wide system of one-way streets frequently drive at top speeds the wrong way down thoroughfares, flying across bridges and overpasses with only blind chance to prevent the further loss of life in head-on collisions. Police and National Guard units patrol deserted neighborhoods on the lookout for looters. Roofs are still torn and damaged, and a mercifully dry October is the only thing protecting the few salvageable possessions on shelves or cabinets of many homes.
Beyond these immediate issues, more insidious forces are at work to undermine people’s right to return and keep them out of their homes or apartments. Evictions, both legal and illegal, have begun throughout the city. New Orleans housing stock has been decimated, and the livable units that remain are in high demand. Accordingly, rents have increased two- to three-fold, while unemployment has shot up to 15%. Ruthless landlords are seizing upon the chaos to deny people access to their homes and belongings, and are trying to clear out old tenants in order to quickly cash in on the housing shortage. Especially vulnerable to this are the city’s Latino families, for whom language is often a barrier and to whom the Louisiana legal system is an inscrutable maze.
Despite this somber reality, though, groups of people have come together from within the city and from around the country to restore communities to clean up trashed and damaged homes, to fight evictions and demand due process for tenants faced now with even more upheaval.
One such group is the Common Ground Relief collective. Initially organized in the less-ravaged Algiers parish, across the river from the rest of the city, Common Ground’s first priority has been to distribute food, water, bleach and cleaning supplies, clothing and other essentials to residents repairing their homes. Recently, a second distribution site has been established in the Upper 9th Ward, a majority black community long neglected by city hall, where flood damage is severe.
Every day, hundreds of residents of the 9th Ward rely on Common Ground’s distribution center to feed themselves and their families, to get cleaning supplies, and to stock up on protective gear so they can safely enter their houses. A free first-aid station now operates around the clock, providing the only basic medical services available for miles. And at the same 9th Ward site, a legal clinic is up and running, providing people with bi-lingual information and advocacy to fight evictions. The legal clinic also counsels people dealing with police brutality and harassment, and offers assistance in filling out FEMA relief applications.
Common Ground’s operations are carried out by scores of volunteers, and made possible only by the generous donations of hundreds of people. But more is needed, and will be needed for some time to come. Volunteers are crucial to the effort to support New Orleans residents struggling to re-establish their lives, and donations of material and money are vital to keep the effort going. Common Ground is hosting a “Road Trip for Relief” during the week of November 20-27, to bring volunteers and supplies to the hardest-hit parts of Louisiana to assist in repairing, rebuilding, and renewing communities that have suffered tremendous loss. People with skills ranging from electrical work and roof repair to crisis counselling and medical care are greatly needed now. Volunteers with any skill set and any experience are welcome to the Common Ground Collective, and the efforts made to help the people of New Orleans now will make a huge difference in the shape of the region’s future.
Support Common Ground’s mission. Come to New Orleans and volunteer, or check the Common Ground website www.commongroundrelief.org to find out how you can donate money or equipment. Get involved. The support you can give is vital to make New Orleans a better, safer place for all of its people.
