Common Ground, New Orleans

Over Thanksgiving, in response to an e-mail appeal, I went to New Orleans to do volunteer tree work. I worked with a new community organization called Common Ground that had sprung up in response to the disaster, and to the failure of government.

Common Ground had been started by Malik Rahim, a black community organizer. He also called in white radical friends from the San Francisco area, where he had lived for many years. Malik and his friends were able to tap into the flood of goods coming into New Orleans, and set up a distribution center. Their aim was to help the poor of New Orleans, especially the lower Ninth Ward, put their lives back together.

By November, Common Ground had about 75 volunteers, and was running two distribution centers, two free clinics, a legal center, and a media center. They also had quarters and kitchens for all the volunteers. Power came from generators, gas from propane tanks, and water from plastic bottles. Kitchens were set up outside, under tarps. By this time, Common Ground had decided to help people restore their houses – an enormous job. They put out an appeal for more volunteers over Thanksgiving, (the one to which I responded), and got 150. Remarkably, Common Ground was ready for us.

At first glance, New Orleans did not look too bad. I did see a few flooded cars against buildings, and one building that had been swept mostly into the next lot. I saw boats, with outboards, parked in the streets and used as trash receptacles. But blocks and blocks of buildings looked pretty normal, except that no one was home.

Then I saw the flood marks on buildings, and learned that flooded buildings are useless until they are cleaned. The big enemy is mold, which is poisonous. Cleaning involves removing the entire contents of the first floor and throwing most of it away. (When I arrived, New Orleans was halfway through disposing of 250,000 refrigerators.) Then you have to tear out the sheet rock and spray every surface with bleach solution. Finally, you start all over with new sheet rock and paint.

I soon learned that huge piles of trash outside buildings were a good sign; it meant that the owners were working to save the buildings. In the lower Ninth Ward, the focus of our work, there were few such piles. Residents were still not being allowed back to their houses, except for brief supervised visits. It struck me that poor refugees from New Orleans were treated more like refugees in a hostile country than like fellow Americans.

Many trees were down, but by the time I arrived, the worst of the wreckage had been cleaned up. I took down fallen trees on sheds and fences and on the backs of buildings. This was important to allow access to the backs of the long narrow lots, where people had so much stored. They were very grateful. I also pruned a fine oak in the lower Ninth that had come through the storm still upright, but with many broken branches. In New Orleans, trees are still green at Thanksgiving, and those that were not uprooted still looked healthy. I suppose they have evolved to tolerate occasional submersion in salt water.

The real heroes of Common Cause were the volunteers cleaning out the buildings. Common Ground tried to take care of them: they received

respirators, Tyvek suits, rubber gloves and boots and rudimentary safety instruction.

Another hero was Jimmy, the young man who drove our Budget Rentals truck, doing deliveries, morning to night. He was so young, his beard had barely begun to grow. Yet, he was patient and reliable. Once, Jimmy was arrested for double parking, something all delivery trucks do. He was handcuffed, hauled in, and jailed for a day. He might have stayed longer, except for our volunteer lawyers, who included Russ Christensen, of Farmington.

The arrest was part of a pattern of low-level harassment by some of the police. A possible cause was that our founder, Malik Rahim, was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party, back in the ’60s.

The main work of Christensen and our other lawyers was combating the wave of evictions that has hit New Orleans. Too many landlords have seen the evacuation of their tenants as a chance to get rid of them, and raise rents.

For two days, my tree crew included Meg Perry, a young woman down from Portland on the Frida bus, a converted school bus running on biodiesel fuel. In December, after I left, the bus crashed and Meg died. Only afterward did I find out that Meg had been much more than just one of the volunteers; she had been one of the core organizers of the Portland Free Space, (which owned the bus), she had done much of the work fixing up the bus, and she was the chief driver bringing it down. She was not driving when the bus crashed, but she leaped forward to grab the wheel when it went out of control. Many think that she prevented the bus from going over an embankment. She affected many people in her life, including me. My sorrow is great.

There is still much work to be done; I am returning in a few days. Common Ground says that they can use practically anyone, at any time. They can provide food, water and lodging. They have special needs for electricians, mechanics, plumbers, mold abaters, roofers, carpenters, construction workers, tree workers, doctors, lawyers, nurses and cooks. More information is available from www.commongroundrelief.org, or from 505-339-5885; or, you can call me at 469-8972.

Of course, money is also greatly needed. Contributions will be tax-deductible if made out to Community Futures /Common Ground Relief and sent to 221 Idora Ave., Vallejo, Calif. 94591.

Rufus Wanning is a master arborist living in Orland.