In 2000, the City of Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

 received funding through the U.S. Department of Justice for the Community Incentive Funding program providing community grants. Through the success of this program, the Columbia Assisting Neighborhood Development Opportunities (CANDO) program was born. Each year, the Columbia City council generously provides the Community Development Department with funding to award to communities for projects developed and implemented by City neighborhoods.

In the CANDO program, projects range from landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...

 projects to youth and senior citizen cultural

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

programs. Neighborhoods are given the opportunity to apply on an annual basis for funding of projects based on the needs of their community. Grants are awarded on a competitive application basis to recognized Columbia Council of Neighborhoods (CCN) member organizations.