A New Lodi honored for its community advocacy
Just a year after forming, a local grassroots organization committed to improving the policies of local government and promoting inclusiveness has been recognized at the state level.
A New Lodi was notified last week that it had been recognized as a 2021 California Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove.
“Its really a recognition of a year’s worth of work,” Dr. Christopher Anderson, one of the organization’s board members, said.
“We started this organization almost to the day, which was people coming together on a corner to express issues like Black Lives Matter, and we realized there was a lot more we wanted to talk about,” he said. “After a year’s worth of work, it was just kind of made it feel real, all of the things we were doing that were actually making an impact, because someone outside of our (organization) was recognizing us for the work we were doing.”
A New Lodi not only focuses on improving local government policies and promoting inclusiveness, but amplifying voices from the Black Indigenous People of Color, or BIPOC communities, as well as those of the migrant and LGBTQIA+ communities.
The nonprofit builds relationships and spreads awareness through community events and builds bridges towards an inclusive community where everyone is accepted. Now in its sixth year, California Nonprofits Day was
formally recognized by the California State Assembly. Legislators across the state choose a Nonprofit of the Year in their respective districts.
Formed last year in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and as Black Lives Matter protests were organized in town, A New Lodi has taken on other civic-minded endeavors in the community such as providing personal protective equipment to field workers in the agricultural industry, as well as providing Christmas gifts to underprivileged children in the community.
In addition, the group organized Lodi’s inaugural Pride Festival last month, which attracted thousands of individuals from across California who identify as LGBTQIA, and those who support the movement.
“What has made me proud to be part of this group is that we have been able to identify issues that were either looked down, or looked over or ignored,” A New Lodi president Rev. Nelson Rabell said. “We have brought them to the forefront. It goes back to our mission statement, where our main concern is to amplify issues affecting people of color or vulnerable communities.”
Board member Bianca Dueñas said the organization doesn’t pretend to speak for everyone in Lodi, but it wants to amplify voices that otherwise have not been heard. She said one of the nonprofit’s goals is to listen to community members and various groups in the city, see what their needs are and do what they can to help.
“Because I love this town, I want to put in the work to make sure that the safety and what I feel here is what everyone else can feel here — comfy, safe loving for all,” she said. “And if that takes raising some of these issues that are not felt just by us, but felt by different communities here in Lodi, and we get some flack for it, then that’s what it is. But ultimately the goal is to try to make Lodi better for everyone.”
While the group started out as a core group of about half a dozen, more people have approached them to inquire how they can also get involved. One of those was Diane Avery-Kaufman, one of the newest board members.
One of the reasons I started getting involved is because I started attending the marches, the demonstrations and candlelight vigils, donating clothes to children, seeing everything on Facebook and then wanting to get more involved,” she said.
Rev. Tom Hampson of St. Paul Lutheran Church is also a board member, and said that over the past year, many Lodians have come to the group expressing appreciation that there is someone speaking for them, as well as people who were surprised to find this kind of organization existed.
“I don’t think we know yet the impact we're having’” he said. “We see some things that are positive, happening in the community, but I think it will be five years or more before we know the impact of things we’ve been doing.”
Board member Kat Ellis believes the organization’s results can be measured, and that the community is already seeing change thanks to the events A New Lodi has created.
“We see the change that we're making because of certain events that we’ve put on and we have these changes that are directly affecting families,” she said. “But we’re also going to have a lot of unmeasurable results. In 10 years, we’re going to see exactly what our measurable results are for some things.”