Pamela L. Jones, LMSW, graduate of Adelphi University in New York received her Master’s Degree in Social Work. She worked in the field of child welfare providing direct service to clients and their families as well as providing training for caseworkers for thirteen years. Upon her relocation to Camden, South Carolina, she began to work in ministry full-time. She has been employed as a secretary of her church and involved in various community activities for over ten years.

Miss Jones has been involved in abstinence education through a variety of activities. In addition to coauthoring the “Healthy Image of Sex” curriculum, she provided curriculum instruction to students involved in the Community in Schools after-school program. She volunteers with a local pregnancy care center providing abstinence education counseling and staff training and has served as Board Chairperson. Miss Jones has attended Heritage Community Services annual training conference on abstinence education and for three consecutive years has attended Care Net’s conference for pregnancy care centers where abstinence education is a focal point. She is also a certified instructor with the Triple P Parenting Program.

As secretary of the Kershaw County HIV/AIDS Collaboration and member of Family & Friends HIV/AIDS care team, a ministry of her church, Miss Jones provides workshops on HIV/AIDS awareness promoting a lifestyle of abstinence-until-marriage. As one who lives a lifestyle of abstinence, Miss Jones is able to teach as well as be an example for youth and adults.

Sheri Few attended University of Maryland, European Extension and completed Charleston Southern University graduate work in abstinence education. Mrs. Few was employed by South Carolina’s first Title V, Section 510 abstinence education project as Regional Director and later as Public Policy Liaison. Considered a leading authority on abstinence education, Mrs. Few is often consulted by South Carolina legislators on issues related to the subject. Her work in abstinence education resulted in her being named the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s 2003 recipient of the prestigious E.A. McDowell award.

Under subcontract with the national Institute for Youth Development, contracted through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mrs. Few has developed components of a “tool kit” to educate various segments of the community about abstinence education for the purpose of promoting a consistent communitywide message to young people, and provide support for community coalition building around this topic.

Mrs. Few is the Founder and President of the non-profit organization, South Carolina Parents Involved in Education (SC PIE), which is committed to excellence in South Carolina public schools through the meaningful involvement of parents in children’s education. SC PIE is the recipient of a Title V, Section 510 abstinence education grant through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the recipient of a federal Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grant. These grants were awarded through a highly competitive bid process and allow for highly acclaimed abstinence education training of public school teachers and other adults in target communities. SC PIE also promotes awareness of the need for abstinence education and develops public policy initiatives to address the need.

As the Project Coordinator for the Palmetto Marriage Project, Mrs. Few directs a grassroots, statewide campaign to strengthen South Carolina’s marriages.