Common Ground Relief

Common Ground Relief fosters environmental and community stewardship so that residents of Southeast Louisiana can survive and thrive, now and in the future.

Our vision is that Southeast Louisiana residents actively engage in the ongoing process of being in reciprocal relationships with each other and their natural and constructed environments:

• Land is created, and trees are planted faster than they are lost.
• All residents have their needs for food and housing met regardless of economic or natural disasters.
• All coastal life has the means to thrive together for generations to come.

Common Ground Relief was established in September 2005 to provide disaster relief in the Greater New Orleans area following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. For sixteen years, Common Ground Relief has helped thousands of Southeast Louisiana residents rebuild their homes and communities, restore wetlands, obtain legal support, and learn green job-skills. In 2015, Common Ground Relief narrowed its programmatic platform. Recognizing coastal land loss as one of the greatest environmental stewardship needs in Southeast Louisiana, Common Ground Relief mobilizes volunteers for wetlands restoration projects, provides environmental education to learners of all ages, and builds relationships among wetlands advocacy stakeholders. Common Ground Relief also facilitates direct need-responsive aid via the Levee Food Pantry and other community projects.

Common Ground Relief plants approximately 5,500 bottomland hardwood trees and completes roughly 20 miles of shoreline restoration each year. We engage 1,000 students and volunteers in hands-on experiential environmental education at our nursery in the Lower Ninth Ward and at conservation project sites throughout New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana. We also provide important resources for community stewardship and aid, operating the Levee Food Pantry (with partners at lowernine.org and Second Harvest) and leading other community projects in disaster relief and trash abatement.

We plant trees and grasses November - June each year. Other conservation, nursery, disaster relief, and food pantry activities are active year-round.

Contact us at volunteer@commongroundrelief.org to see how you can help. We carry complete liability coverage and handle all aspects of project coordination for groups and individuals.