She made a promise before she even retired.
After attending a Family Engagement event hosted by VOICES Corporation, she pulled a staff member aside and told her plainly: When I retire, I’m coming to volunteer for your organization. Then she went home, finished out her career, took a six-month break to catch her breath, and called VOICES again.
“I’m still going to volunteer,” she said. “But I need a break first.”
That was three years ago. She hasn’t stopped since.
A Lifetime of Showing Up
Ms. Lillian is a longtime Indianapolis resident who has been volunteering, in some form, for most of her adult life. The impulse goes back further than she can fully trace. Her mother was a teacher, and she grew up watching adults show up for the people around them. Somewhere along the way, that became part of who she is, too.
“I was taught early to be a nice person, and part of that lesson was the responsibility to give back to others,” Ms. Lilian recalls. “I think that’s a gift that God gave me—showing up to lend a hand, no matter if it’s to help many people or just one.”
She found her way to VOICES, as many of our community members do—through an educational program. In her case, it was a fresh produce giveaway. She came for the vegetables, stayed for the Family Engagement event, and left knowing she’d found something worth coming back to.
“VOICES has a tremendous approach to events where they often offer you something simply for showing up,” explained Ms. Lillian. “In my instance, I left with fresh produce, but often program participants leave with clothing, resources to support their families, and information that can help them in every aspect of their lives. It’s rare that people leave without full hearts and hands.”
Why VOICES
When Ms. Lillian talks about why she chose VOICES over the many organizations she could have given her time to, she doesn’t hesitate. She came across a paper she had written in 2007, seventeen years before she started volunteering with VOICES, and realized the two were describing the same thing.
“My heart loves to help people—mentally, financially, with their health, and in all areas of their lives,” she said. “VOICES does work in every area that I care about, making a difference for others.”
VOICES’ model spans mental health support, housing stability, workforce development, food access through Marsha’s Closet and the food pantry, youth leadership, and community wellness. For Ms. Lillian, that breadth is the point. She isn’t interested in organizations that address a single issue. She is interested in organizations that care about the whole person.
“It’s rare that organizations understand how interconnected our issues are,” said Ms. Lillian. “VOICES shows up every day, committed to helping people in every area of their lives. I’m proud to support this organization, and I’m proud to help our community through my volunteer work.”
The Boys She Shows Up For
Much of Ms. Lillian’s time at VOICES is spent working alongside the young men in the day reporting program: youth who are navigating some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, often without the family stability that most of us take for granted.
She has two sons of her own, now in their thirties. They grew up in a two-parent home with plenty of love and never had to question whether they were valued. She knows not every young person gets that. And she thinks about it every time she walks through the door.
“I look at the young people served at VOICES, and I just want to give them love,” she said. “They remind me of my boys. But everybody doesn’t know that they’re loved, so I try to show up and encourage them when I see them, because you just need somebody to speak positivity into your life.”
In a city where Black and Brown youth are navigating poverty, housing instability, and a mental health crisis that is only getting harder to ignore, a volunteer who shows up consistently and speaks life into young people is not a small thing. It is, in many ways, the whole thing.
What She Wants People to Know
Ms. Lillian has spent enough time at VOICES to know that some of the people who need it most are the least likely to walk through the door. Pride. Shame. The fear of being seen as someone who needs help. She understands it, and she has a response:
“Everybody needs help sometimes,” she said. “And you will not be in that position forever. Trouble doesn’t always last, and pain doesn’t always last. Sometimes you just need a little boost to help you along the way.”
She has watched people come through VOICES in their hardest seasons and leave in a completely different place. Some of them come back not to receive, but to give—volunteering, donating, showing up for the next person the way someone once showed up for them.
“Our customer base, these people come in, and we’ve established a personal relationship with them,” she said. “Some of them need hugs. Some of them just need a smile. Some of them come in and just tell you that they’re hurting. And I feel like God has me in that place just to give nothing but a smile to someone.”
In a city where young people are carrying more than they should, and where the systems designed to support them are under more pressure than ever, education is not a nice-to-have. It is essential. And Ms. Lillian, showing up week after week with a smile and a word of encouragement, is part of how it gets delivered.
At the end of a recent conversation, Ms. Lillian shared an important perspective:
“When I’m volunteering, people always say thank you to me,” she said. “But I should be saying thank you to them.”
That is what it feels like to be in the right place. To wake up and know that what you are doing matters, that the people you are doing it with are worth doing it for, and that the hour you give is not a sacrifice. It is a gift that comes back to you.
VOICES Corporation is looking for people like Ms. Lillian. Not people who have everything figured out. People who care about others. People who will show up, speak life, and sit with someone in their hard season. Whether you have an hour a week or a standing commitment, there is a place for you here.
Ready to Volunteer?
VOICES Corporation serves youth and families across Indianapolis through housing, mental health, workforce development, youth leadership, and family engagement programs. Volunteers play a direct role in making that work possible—from supporting the food pantry and Marsha’s Closet to mentoring young people in day reporting and beyond.
Explore volunteer opportunities and take the first step today. Because, as Ms. Lillian will tell you, you might think you’re showing up for them. But they’ll show up for you, too.
