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Our founder, Annette Murdaca was volunteering at the Salvation Army and learned that homeless women and children had no place to go in Lodi. Homeless men, dogs and cats had a place to go, but homeless women and their children did not. Murdaca decided to change that.
By 1997, Annette Murdaca and Nancy Watts developed a vision of hope and a place of security for women and children. They attended a meeting of church and community members and discovered they were not alone in their desire. The group formed a task force in 1998.
The vision gained momentum and supporters as they developed a plan to help homeless women become self-sufficient. Public agencies, churches, businesses, social groups and the community all came together to bring the vision to fruition. The first board of directors was composed of task force members Ken Smith, Jola Bortner, Judy Clemons, Sherry DuBois, Keith Land, Janet Hamilton, Carol Farron, Dr. Ken Mullen and Frank Sasaki.
Shelby Young was hired in early 2000 as a consultant to raise awareness, secure additional funds, and recruit volunteers to transform the large home that was purchased at 801 S. Washington Street. In August of 2000, Suzanne Clay Mangum was hired as the Executive Director. Shereen Scherle Hays was hired to cook for the house residents. Lodi House officially opened on September 11, 2000 when the first woman moved in with her two children.
The program grew strong with community support, but Lodi House needed to develop more means to generate revenue. So in 2010, Lodi House opened the Lodi House Thrift Store in a rented building on Lodi Avenue. The store allows Lodi House guests and alumni to receive the community’s donated clothing and household items for free while also creating a revenue stream to help cover the shelter’s operating costs.
The Lodi House program expanded in 2011 to include three transitional apartments and an enrichment center where shelter guests and graduates receive free counseling and attend personal growth workshops.
In 2014, Lodi House purchased a commercial building at 221 W. Lodi Avenue to permanently house the expanded thrift store. In 2016, Mangum retired and Shelby Young returned to lead Lodi House as executive director.
In 2020, Lodi House marked 20 amazing years of empowering more than 1,000 women and children to become self-sufficient and go on to live courageous, healthy and independent lives.
In 2021, Lodi House purchased a multi-family property at 528 Hilborn Street. It provided 4 separate living units to expand the transitional housing program.
In 2023, Lodi House was again able to further expand its transitional housing program with the purchase of 830 S. Washington Street. The property is located just 5 houses from the main shelter and has 3 two bedroom apartments.
Today, Lodi House has a total of 10 units that can be utilized for the transitional housing program.