Our Mission

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Mission: Groundwork New Orleans works to achieve the mission we share with Groundwork USA, which is to work to bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses and organizations to promote environmental, economic and social well-being. 

Vision: Groundwork New Orleans engages residents, volunteers, businesses and local organizations in practical projects that improve quality of life, restore the ecological function of the physical environment, and lay the foundations for sustainable development. 

Goals and Objectives: A sustainable community starts with a vibrant, healthy and safe environment for individuals and enterprises to prosper. The primary goal of Groundwork New Orleans is to improve quality of life in the City of New Orleans in three ways: 

For Residents: creating opportunities for people to learn new skills and take local action to better their community. 

For Neighborhoods: creating better, safer and healthier neighborhoods today and for the future. 

For Prosperity: helping businesses and individuals fulfill their potential, which ultimately makes the City of New Orleans a better, more prosperous place to live. 

Groundwork New Orleans engages local residents, businesses and government officials to revitalize neighborhoods and transform community liabilities into community assets. By changing places we change lives. Since 2006, GWNO has focused on neighborhood-based best management practices, or “BMPs”, implementing projects that mitigate storm water threats while improving quality of life, restoring ecosystems, and contributing to a healthier watershed that includes surrounding wetlands and the Gulf of Mexico estuaries. These projects include installing rain gardens and bioswales, community beautification and improving urban drainage infrastructure. At the core of our programing is Youth Development through job and life skills training. The Green Team program employs youth ages 14-18, the Ground CREW (Creating a Resilient Environmental Workforce) program employs young adults 19-25, in environmental improvement and community development projects which focus on green infrastructure and help improve the quality of life in New Orleans.