LILLY WEDEKIND

The Baltimore Station

Lilly Wedekind, community engagement manager at The Baltimore Station, joined just after COVID-19 nearly eliminated its volunteer program. She has run it for four and a half years, with volunteer hours, groups and individuals growing yearly. In 2024, she managed more than 1,200 individuals who volunteered 5,746 hours.

Calls came weekly from people passionate about giving back who needed a little direction, so she built custom opportunities by phone and email around each caller’s skills and talents. The monthly volunteer potluck dinner she started almost four years ago gave anyone who could cook or contribute food a chance at more direct impact on clients. One woman, Sophia, whose father had been a client years ago and struggled with addiction, works in real estate and said she had little to offer. Now a regular, she brings coffee for morning group classes, Royal Farms fried chicken on potluck nights and support at fundraisers.

Wedekind has worked to change how volunteers are regarded inside the organization, since unpaid work is sometimes seen as lesser. Every person who walks through the doors, she holds, has something meaningful to offer. Understanding their talents, passions and motivations has helped her build a volunteer program in which individuals feel respected, connected and essential to the mission. Many of the more than 1,200 individuals she has worked with return, knowing their contributions matter. She believes everyone deserves the chance to become a version of themselves they can be proud of, and whether it’s a veteran overcoming addiction and reconnecting with family or a volunteer giving back to a veteran community, she works to create a space where they feel empowered and valued to make a difference.

Wedekind also mentors the teenage son of a former coworker and friend, talking through school transitions, his faith and everyday teenage struggles. At 28, she offers a perspective a few years removed, hoping to be a safe space for advice.