Columbia

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The Columbia Division honors Rev. Dr. Dallas H. Wilson, Jr., the vicar of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, for creating programs to prevent at-risk youth from spiraling into crime, drug and alcohol use, and incarceration.

Prior to serving at St. John’s, Wilson was the pastor and founder of the Agape Inner-City Christian Assembly and Agape Ministries of Charleston (Agape), a major non-governmental provider in the Eastside community. Through Agape, he created the following programs:

• ELIPS, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that acquires and revitalizes property for Agape;
  
• Through the R.E.S.T.O.R.E program, members meet with homeless men to help re-integrate them into the community;
  
• The Alternatives of Education program was established in 1994, to educate and train at-risk children through academic studies and athletics;
  
• PCSmarts is an interactive computer program that trains young people to make the best use of technology through simplified teaching of computer restoration and programming;
  
• The Charleston Midnight Basketball Association provides recreational activities for more than 350 at-risk kids.