01:18 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Houma Courier

DULAC -- Two groups that aim to rebuild hurricane-stricken communities throughout the Gulf Coast are establishing a place in south Terrebonne for its volunteers to stay.

(MISTY LEIGH MCELROY/FOR THE COURIER)

Common Ground volunteers (from left) Suncere Ali Shakur of Washington, Susan Lovell of Grand Caillou and Casey Hughes of Colorado prepare food they planned to serve for breakfast today at Church of God in Grand Caillou.

The Grand Caillou Road building, the former home of the Church of God, will serve as a community center and temporary home for hundreds of volunteers who will help with hurricane recovery. It’s under renovation now.

When finished, the building will serve as local headquarters for Common Ground Collective, a community-initiated volunteer group started in the New Orleans area to help with hurricane relief, and Four Directions Solidarity Network, a group formed in October to help Native American communities with storm recovery.

Over the next nine and a half weeks, about 1,000 volunteers will help with hurricane cleanup, wetlands restoration, set up a legal-aid clinic and run a free breakfast program for children, said Suncere Ali Shakur, project coordinator for Common Ground.

The goal is get the programs up and running before letting the community take over. "We’re here for structure," he said. "I hope it will become a community operation. My goal is that Common Ground will only provide the labor."

The first thing Common Ground volunteers will do is try to convince the community to participate.

A handful of college students have already begun the process.

Chris Blanken and Kelly Orians, students at the University of Colorado in Denver, arrived less than a week ago and started passing out fliers last night detailing the groups’ plans. Both volunteered for Common Ground in New Orleans during spring break and said the community here has been receptive.

Ben Oney and Anya Ventura, students at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., are working with Four Directions to distribute food. Like Blanken and Orians, they also worked in New Orleans prior to arriving in Dulac.

"There’s more people interaction here," Ventura said.

Because many areas of New Orleans are still evacuated, they worked mostly on gutting houses and cleaning debris. In Dulac, the two have had the chance to talk with people about their needs.

A hurricane survivor himself, Martin Parfait, chief elder for the Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogees, is no stranger to the community’s needs.

"The community can run the programs once it’s back on its feet," the Shrimpers Row resident said.

Getting to that point will take a joint effort, but it’s one that most are willing to make, according to Ronald Courteaux, member of the Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogees.

"We can rebuild," he said. "But we have to become friends. We have to become neighbors."

Courteaux’s home in Chauvin still needs repairs, but he said he’s willing to delay that work to help rebuild the community first. The mental attitude must be: "I’ll help fix your home, and you’ll help fix my home," he said.

Community meetings will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5741 Grand Caillou Road. Building supplies and other donations are still needed, as are volunteers with professional carpentry, electrical and plumbing experience.