HENDERSON, Texas (KETK) – Aside from being a wife and a mother, Henderson resident Shana Moland considers herself a full-time volunteer. While she is not originally from East Texas, she and her family settled in the area seven years ago. Moland has made quite an impact, volunteering for several non-profits.
She began her journey of helping in the foster care system. She and her husband began fostering children because she says God put it on their hearts. Moland has since adopted one of her foster children and closed her home, but she still felt called to continue her service.
“Now we feel like our journey and purpose in the foster care system is to support others,” Moland said.
After moving to East Texas, she realized there were many other families who needed guidance. With the help of First Baptist Church and Legacy Closet in Longview, she opened Rusk County Legacy House – where Shana says, “Families, foster families, and adoptive families can come and shop for the children in their care.”
The entire house is stocked with clothes, toys, books and more. Everything is free of charge for children in need, and the environment is full of support for families.
“You can come here and you’re shopping for your kids, but you are really encouraging and being encouraged by other families that are navigating a very complex and broken system,” Moland said.
Moland also continues her service with foster care by serving as a CASA volunteer – a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the system. She works hard as a voice for children because fostering changed her life.
“Life can’t ever be the same, nor should it be the same. We’ve seen the need, we’ve seen the reality,” Moland said. “So now, our whole family has impacted all of us. We just will never see the world the way we did before we fostered.”
When she is not being a superhero to fosters, Shana Moland spends her time with the Boy Scouts of America as a Scoutmaster for the first all-girls troop in East Texas. She guides young ladies in activities that will help pave the way for their futures.
Moland says she enjoys, “To see them and see how smart they are and the things they are very capable of doing. And learning that it’s okay to make mistakes that we are there and we learn from their mistakes, and then watching them grow beyond it.”
Moland’s efforts are not finished. She also spends time helping animals in need at Rusk County Pets Alive, and substitute teaching for a bible study fellowship class in Longview. This day-class is full of ladies from different churches and backgrounds that come together to learn God’s word.
Shana is a mother, wife, foster mom, advocate, troop leader, fellowship teacher, and a volunteer. But all of these things combined make her a remarkable woman.
