Common Ground Health Clinic Mission Statement
The Common
Ground Health Clinic is a non-profit organization that provides free
quality health care for the greater New Orleans community, and develops
and provides programs to address community health care needs through
collaborative partnerships.
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A Clinic Begun By Volunteers—From All Over
For its short history the clinic has depended on volunteers, the overwhelming majority of whom have been from out of state. Volunteer street medics and other medical professionals created this clinic out of little more than determination, stamina and a will to provide healthcare to the Algiers neighborhood when most pre-Katrina citizens of New Orleans could not even return home from their evacuations. The first few months of the clinic were the result of healthcare activists from all over the United States responding to the immediate disaster that was Katrina and the failure of the levees.
However, the goal of the Common Ground Health Clinic has always been to transition into a sustainable, locally staffed, community-run, community-controlled clinic. In this way the clinic responds not only to the direct effects of Katrina and the flood, but also to the historical disaster of a healthcare system that does not provide equal access to some communities.
One way to accomplish that goal is to create an open, welcoming environment for community and other local volunteers, indeed, to actively recruit them. That is no small goal in a devastated city, where people still suffer the physical, financial, emotional and psychic wounds wrought by Katrina, the failure of the levees, and the failure of the government to provide basic safety and life sustenance. In short, the people of New Orleans are still trying to get their lives back. Tens of thousands of them are still trying just to get back—home.
The dynamics of race and class, so often the elephants in the living room, play no small part in making it difficult for local citizens to volunteer at the clinic. Nonetheless, local citizens working in the clinic is our goal.
Still, we recognize that post-disaster, we need out-of-town volunteers to help bridge the grave health professional shortages in New Orleans. Many medical professionals have not returned and many may have relocated permanently.
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COMMON GROUND HEALTH CLINIC(504) 361-9800
VOLUNTEER COORDINATION PHONE (504-717-6561)
1400 Teche St. New Orleans 70114
P.O. Box 741801, New Orleans, LA 70174-1801
web:http://cghc.org email: healthalgiers@yahoo.com
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