Take Back Lodi aims to clean up city
Citizen group dedicated to improving Lodi’s homelessness situation claims rapid progress
When Lodi Grape Festival Director Mark Armstrong rallied together a group of frustrated residents in hopes of improving the homelessness situation in Lodi, he never imagined that the group, now known as Take Back Lodi, would have achieved so much in such a short amount of time.
“I had no idea that it would grow so fast and that so many people would be into helping improve Lodi,” Armstrong said. “I had no idea what I was getting into.”
Since the group was formed last August, it has held several clean-up events, including improvements to the Guild Winery property along the Mokelumne River, the Maggio property along the Mokelumne River and the south wall at Walmart. The group has also conducted couch and mattress pick-ups and has collected and either returned of or disposed of over 500 shopping carts.
Take Back Lodi has also held meetings with Caltrans and California Highway Patrol personnel to voice their concerns. According to Armstrong, the group has made several service requests with Caltrans concerning homeless encampments in the Lodi area. They have also reached out to the Lodi City Council about cleaning up homeless encampments in Lodi. The group, which is seeking nonprofit status, has made an agreement to clean the Awani Drive beach area by the Mokelumne River trestle once a month. They’re also working on plans to repurpose Lawrence Park and continue to work with Community Liaison Officer Ryan Holz in dealing with homelessness in Lodi.
A clean-up was planned this morning from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Awani Drive beach area.
Armstrong attributes Take Back Lodi’s success to their proactive group members, their relationship with the city’s community liaison and their advocacy before the city council.
“We’ve been pretty relentless about helping out and being a part of it,” Armstrong said. “It’s been contagious. We’ve had 50 people come out to our clean-ups and help. I think it’s a bunch of people who are just tired of it and are willing to help.”
Armstrong is very proud of Take Back Lodi’s efforts in the community.
“I think we’re having a major impact, and it’s growing,” Armstrong said. “I think that one of our goals was to be a positive thing for the city and I feel that back from the city that we’re a positive and not a negative.”
He is looking forward to what the group can do in the future.
“I think that our goal short and long term is to make Lodi a better place and work with the community liaison officer who works directly with the homeless, to be able to let him do his job to deal with the homeless that want to get help,” Armstrong said. “Our thing is that there is no reason that we have to put up with the trash, not only from the homeless group but from other people.”
Armstrong said residents should be able to take pride in their neighborhoods, regardless of where they live.
“It doesn’t matter whether we live on the east side or west side of town, we need to take pride in our city and when people come here from the outside, they are really impressed with how it looks,” he said.
According Lodi Committee on Homelessness Chair John Ledbetter, the committee and Take Back Lodi work hand in hand.
“Mark’s group is more focused on a specific issue of cleaning up behind some of these folks and enforcing the ordinance on shopping carts, and that’s part of the answer too. We have a real understanding,” Ledbetter said. “He understands that we’re looking more long-term and his group is more focused on some short-term issues, but they’re both in agreement with each other and go hand in hand and there is synergy between the two groups.”
Ledbetter commended Take Back Lodi on its efforts.