Volunteer at Common Ground

Volunteers make Common Ground happen! From weeding the garden to tech support to cleaning to cooking and more, there is a way for everyone to get involved! In addition to providing essential support for our operations, volunteering is a great way to deepen your connection to the community.

Sign Up to Volunteer

Fill out our volunteer form to share your general interest and tell us a bit about yourself.

Current Volunteer Opportunities

Contact Gabe at gabe@commongroundmeditation.org if you're interested in any of the following volunteer roles:

Admin Support: There are many ways to support Common Ground with admin work, whether that's website editing, spreadsheet work, or other clerical work.
Audio Editing: We have a wonderful group of volunteers who work behind the scenes to update our Dharmaseed repository of talks.
Retreat Center Kitchen Manager: We're looking for volunteers who have attended at least two retreats at our retreat center and who have experience cooking for big groups. The role doesn't actually involve much cooking if any though; mostly supervising volunteers in heating up pre-made frozen meals.
Program Host: If you've been coming to the center for over a year, we're looking for two Program hosts for the 3rd Sunday morning Weekly Practice Group of the month. Skills needed: attention to detail, a friendly and welcoming disposition, and ability to lift and set up folding chairs.

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Common Ground’s Mindfulness and Recovery Teacher Team is looking for folks with a long-time commitment to recovery and who have also been part of the Common Ground Community for several years to help support the ongoing Friday evening Mindfulness Recovery and the Twelve Steps Community. This Friday evening drop-in group has been meeting for over 20 years to provide support for folks in recovery from addiction using the skillful means from Buddhist practice. Please reach out to Shelly@commongroundmeditation.org or Mark@commongroundmeditation.org if you are interested in getting involved.

A flowering of volunteers circa 2017.

Building Committee

Our Building Committee keeps the city center working and oversees two annual Cleaning and Maintenance Days, one in spring and one in fall. If you are a handy person and are interested in this kind of volunteering, we can always use more help with little projects! Contact gabe@commongroundmeditation.org for more info.

Pictured, from left to right: Charlie Borden, Gabe Keller Flores, Shelly Graf, Dave Redelman, and Steve Henrich. Not pictured: Jeffrey Swainhart.

Shelley Gregg, Volunteer Registrar

Shelley resides in Illinois and has been a student of meditation since the 1990s. Her primary teacher has been Gil Fronsdal since 2005 and she continues a strong relationship with IRC. Shelley first "found" Mark Nunberg on Dharma Seed in 2007, when she was doing a 2-week self-retreat at a hermitage and had cobbled together her own playlist of dharma talks. Since that time, Mark has been an important influence on her life.

In 2020, when many centers started offering online possibilities, Shelley began to participate in Common Ground's offerings and hybrid retreats. She states that during that first retreat with Mark Nunberg and Shelly Graf, she felt such a strong connection with them that she knew she had finally found her home sangha and continues to feel blessed that this community has "adopted" her. In 2021, she felt called to inquire about the possibility of doing some remote volunteer work and in 2022 began her role which has expanded over the past 3 years. It is her greatest pleasure to talk with and communicate with community members and try to meet their needs. Shelley also co-facilitates an online Kalyana Mitta (Spiritual Friendship) group.

Jenny in the Garden

Office Volunteer Patty

Vacuuming Cushions

Volunteers Eating