SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Volunteer Louisiana and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser will honor an Army veteran, cancer survivor, and lover of Shreveport-Bossier with the AmeriCorps Champion Award.
Shelia Revell is a Shreveport native, former instructor, and medic in the United States Army, and says she has always been called to serve others.
She was diagnosed in 2014 with cancer and everything changed.
“While I was battling cancer, I was also having an internal battle,” Revell said. “I cried and prayed and not long after that my purpose became clearer.”
As she came to terms with beating cancer, Revell decided helping others would improve her health, so she started volunteering at community centers in her Shreveport community. It was there that she literally saw a sign that changed her life.
“There was a sign in the community center advertising AmeriCorps,” Revell said. “It grabbed my attention, really anything that says ‘corps’ grabs my attention because of my career in the military.
Joining AmeriCorps led her to a job that she was seemingly made for, Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College (NLTCC). While at NLTCC, Revell focused on creating a veteran’s resource center as the school’s College Navigator. She coordinated events to help former enlisted military personnel make the transition from active duty to academia.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Revell was inspired to do more for her community. She learned about the Vaccine Equity Project, an initiative aimed at informing underserved communities about the importance of getting the COVID vaccine.
Her mother-in-law died from complications caused by COVID-19 and she says that ignited the spark. She knew that a conversation needed to be had encouraging people to continue living, through safety measures and getting vaccinated.
“I lost loved ones during the pandemic and that touched me to my soul,” Revell said. “It was important to let people know about safety and arm them with the proper information because there was so much misinformation available. And there are some people who don’t keep up with the news at all and they had no information.”
Revell says she would go out into communities canvassing, knocking on doors, and providing what she calls “health literacy” to people throughout the area who were reluctant or afraid to get the vaccine.
“I would tell my family members, follow me. I’m gonna get it, watch me and see what happens to me,” Revell says she chose to lead by example becoming vaccinated as soon as it was safe for her to do so.
When asked her first thought after learning that she would be one of the Volunteer Louisiana honorees Revell found her words after a moment of silence.
“I was overjoyed. I think I cried. My thought was oh God, wow. I did the work, but I give God the glory. I thank him for making me a vessel.”
Parkway High School student Brianna Cooley was named the Northwest Champion. You can read Brianna’s story here.
