HandsOn New Orleans

Their staff who were at the bunkhouse they run were nice enough but the stay was not. It was like experiencing a youth hostel stay since we had to clean, cook, and do chores there (and those were the pleasant aspects of the stay).
We all had to provide our own linens and towels which meant bringing half a suitcase of more stuff. When we were staying there for a week of volunteer work in February, it was brutally cold and the house was not insulated nor heated, plus it had many gaps in the walls that the wind and bitter cold came in so I was ill the entire time I stayed there and had such a bad cough that I thought I was coming down with pneumonia despite wearing about 5 layers of clothes to bed. Many friends who were also staying there thought I was going to cough out a lung. Within days of going home, my horrible cough went away in large part because I got away from the extremely uncomfortably cold and drafty bunkhouse.
The wifi at the bunkhouse worked for a total of 15 minutes the entire week of our stay so I had to go to a coffee shop at the end of the week just so I could check in for my return flight home. I also I had a huge backlog of email to clear after that week as a result of having so little internet access at the bunkhouse.

Awesome group to volunteer with. We’ve been coming annually from Hawai‘i to work with these great folks and will continue to come until NOLa doesn’t need us anymore.

HandsOn New Orleans is a non-​profit agency which coordinates volunteer activities around the Greater New Orleans area. If you have a free Saturday, check their calendar. They also coordinate for corporate entities and have limited lodgings for folks who want to volunteer from out of state and need a place to stay.
Supercool!