Community Power Stations are places to charge your devices while the power’s out.
In the spirit of mutual aid, the stations are hosted on a volunteer basis by neighbors, organizations, and businesses across the greater New Orleans area.
*We are looking to add stations in Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parish. If you’re in these parishes and have power while your neighbors do not, please contact us to join the map!
NOTE: YELLOW pins are residential locations — neighbors helping neighbors. Access details for each location by clicking on its pin.
Join the map!
The map is open to anyone in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parish. If folks around you need power, we’d love to add you to the map. Email communitypowermap@gmail.com with:
- Your Name (Individual/Business/Org)
- Address of your Community Power Station
- Is your location Residential, a Business, or an Organization?
- Is there seating available?
- Can we mark your spot as a safe space for LGBTQ and BIPOC individuals?
- Include any other important information about your setup and/or a picture if you have one.
LAGNIAPPE: If you want to add additional supplies to your spot, please do! Some folks are leaving snacks, candy, baby wipes, water and other supplies out by the power cord or generator. We also recommend hand sanitizer if you have extra. Some stations have a metal folding chair, some are decorated, some are for porch sitting. All of them are getting the job done. Thanks for being a part of this truly community-driven effort.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE FOLLOW GENERATOR SAFETY GUIDELINES. Do not run your generator inside of your home or garage.
If you can’t host a Community Power Station but still want to help, there are other ways to “plug in” (yeah, we went there with the pun):
- Spread the word. While we are online, those with power may not be. Share the link to this page through your social networks (text, email, community Facebook groups), put up hand-drawn signs around your neighborhood, tell your mom and dem. We encourage you to go forth and spread the news in whatever way feels good to you! If you have questions or want support on this, email klie@imaginewaterworks.org.
- Share our fundraiser: bit.ly/IdaRelief. Donations to this fund will support our Hurricane Ida Relief & Recovery work, as well as helping us prepare for the rest of hurricane season.
This project is co-organized by Sara Slaughter, Cathy Balfe, and Imagine Water Works.
Locations are hosted by individuals, businesses, and community centers across the city. Please be kind to everyone who is volunteering their time, talent, and space to get power to folks who need it! If you’d like to get more involved with this sort of effort, find us on Facebook at “Imagine Mutual Aid (New Orleans)”.
Hurricane Ida Relief & Recovery Fund:
For other ways to donate or support our work, email klie@imaginewaterworks.org.
The Mutual Aid Response Network is a group of Louisiana residents, led by Imagine Water Works, that activates during floods, storms, and other natural and manmade disasters. Our leadership is Native, Creole, queer, trans, and deeply connected to our community.
All donations to this fund will support relief and recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ida, led by Imagine Water Works and the Mutual Aid Response Network, as well as our work toward preparing for the rest of hurricane season. To request or offer support in person, join one of our groups in New Orleans, Houma, or Southwest Louisiana.
About Us:
- New Orleans has been our home for generations, and we live and work here year round.
- Our leadership is Native, Creole, queer, trans, and deeply connected to our community.
- We’ve supported preparedness and recovery work at home since 2012, in addition to supporting Southwest Louisiana through Hurricane Laura and recently extending our hurricane prep outreach to the Northeastern U.S. for Hurricane Henri.
- We have extensive lived + trained experience in mutual aid and disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery. We are actively reimagining disaster relief as liberatory and shame-free.
- We are supported and held accountable by our community, locally and across the South, and are transparent about who we are and how we do our work.
In addition to Ida, we worked throughout 2020 on all named storms with Louisiana in the “cone of uncertainty”, supporting folks through Cristobal, Marco, Laura, Sally, Beta, Delta, and Zeta. Scroll through the fundraiser to see some of what we’ve done with your support so far.
Additional resources for Ida Relief + Hurricane Season:
- 2021 Hurricane Season Guide
- Mutual Aid Response Network – New Orleans (Facebook)
- Mutual Aid Response Network – Houma (Facebook)
- Mutual Aid Response Network – Southwest LA (Facebook)
- COVID-19 Guide to Hurricane Season
- Storm Prep Q&A (on Instagram)
Learn more about our work last year via WWL Eyewitness News, NOLA Eater, and more:
- Charge Your Devices | Press Release from NOLA Ready and the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
- “NOLA Community Organizations Focus on Hurricane Relief as Power Outages from Hurricane Zeta Continue” [NOLA Eater]
- ‘It gives me hope’ | New Orleanians help Hurricane Laura evacuees in the Crescent City [WWL]
- Hairstylist forced from home by Laura offers free cuts to evacuees in New Orleans hotel [WWL]
- For Hurricane Laura Evacuees, Food Is Often Served Cold. This Mutual Aid Group Delivers Appliances to Help. [NOLA Eater]
See our Imagine Mutual Aid group in action via WWL’s Devin Bartolotta: