Lodi man creates social media page to help homeless

With the COVID-19 pandemic creating havoc for those who need vital city and county services, a Lodi man came up with a way to provide vital resources to those who need those services the most: the city’s homeless population.

Brad Spiker is no stranger to homelessness. His son had been homeless, and was killed in a structure fire with his girlfriend a few years ago.

After their passing, Spiker wanted to do something that would help people like his son find the resources and services they needed to get off the streets and back to a regular life.

So, in 2019, just before the onset of the pandemic, Spiker created “Homeless in Lodi” on Facebook, a page where volunteers, those experiencing homeless and those at-risk of becoming homeless can connect and locate services not immediately available.

“We see a lot of people on the streets, and those are the ones we associate with being homeless,” Spiker said. “But there’s another population of homeless. A lot of them have various places to stay temporarily. They’re couch surfing or staying with friends until they can get back on their feet. And that’s a large part of the homeless population we don’t see.”

Spiker said he wanted to help those on the streets, as well as those struggling to make ends meet and find permanent housing. He first went to the City of Lodi’s website to see what resources and services were available, but he said he found the list was either outdated or had limited options.

So, he took the initiative to offer up a pool of choices through social media and networking with other Lodians who wanted to help the unhoused.

“I thought that if I started a group that helped just one person, that listed resources for them and put it on Facebook, I could make a difference,” he said. “So I reached out to some organizations to see if they wanted to help out, and the response has been really good.”

Since creating “Homeless in Lodi” group, some 1,000 people have joined with

about 40% of them currently experiencing homelessness. Another 40% are volunteers and community members, and the remaining 20% are organizations and homeless service providers looking to provide resources.

Resources being offered to the group’s unhoused members include food, water and clothing, as well as health and wellness offerings, including vaccines, health checks and mobile showers. Job postings can also be found on the site for those who are in a position to work.

Spiker said members have been posting on a daily basis to connect the unsheltered or at-risk of being unhoused to resources.

San Joaquin County did not participate in the 2020 or 2021 Point in Time homeless counts due to the pandemic, but the 2019 count found Lodi had 139 unsheltered individuals living in the city. It was a 60% increase from 2017, when there were 88 homeless people in Lodi.

The page was the centralized system the homeless need to move out of their situations, Spiker said.

The city’s proposed access center is also focused on providing central services for the unsheltered, but with the project’s location now being reconsidered, it is unknown when it will move forward.

Spiker said the access center is a good start, but was skeptical it would accomplish the goal the city was hoping to achieve.

“There are three reasons someone is homeless,” Spiker said. “They can’t pay their bills because they either lost their job or don’t make enough, they have mental health issues that they can’t find assistance for, or they have an opioid or alcohol addiction.

Spiker said he’s seen the rhetoric and the negative comments or actions directed at the city’s homeless, but believes most of the residents in Lodi want to help them break they’re unsheltered cycle. They just need a way to get involved, he said, and that’s where “Homeless in Lodi” enters the frame.

“I’ve found that the people against the homeless who think they are justifying their position by being angry will voice their opposition, and the people who are loving and caring will not voice it,” he said. “But I know there is more love in this town than there is hate.”