Our Story: From Pain to Purpose

Our nonprofit status is new. Our commitment to the community is not.

Molding Our Male Seeds, Inc. (MOMS) wasn’t born from a grant opportunity or a desire to establish another nonprofit organization. It grew from a mother’s determination to confront the violence affecting her family and community.

After witnessing her son’s involvement in gang activity and experiencing the trauma of having her home shot multiple times, founder Shwanda Mabine Williams refused to remain silent. She attended town hall meetings, spoke out against violence, and sought ways to help other mothers and young men facing similar struggles.

Her commitment to violence prevention is documented as far back as 2018. By 2019, she had established Molding Our Male Seeds (MOMS) as a grassroots community initiative, bringing families, community leaders, and residents together to address gun violence in Ahoskie, North Carolina.

In June 2019, the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald published an article titled Taking Back the Streets, documenting MOMS and its community efforts. But the work didn’t stop when the newspaper coverage ended.

MOMS continued its grassroots service, building relationships, encouraging families, supporting mothers, and advocating for young men through the years that followed.

On August 17, 2026, MOMS received official IRS 501(c)(3) recognition, opening new opportunities to expand its longstanding mission through youth mentoring, gun-violence prevention, family support, and its Four Seasons of Giving initiatives.

Today, MOMS remains grounded in the same purpose that inspired its beginning: building community, preventing violence, and inspiring hope.

We are not just raising boys. We are molding kings.

Building Community. Preventing Violence. Inspiring Hope.

 

The Connection Between MOMS & Sistah Soldier

Molding Our Male Seeds, Inc. (MOMS) is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Shwanda Williams. Sistah Soldier is her advocacy and activist identity—her voice in the movement to end gun violence. That advocacy helped shape the heart behind MOMS and its work through mentorship, community service, violence prevention, and support for youth and families.