Greenwood

For the last 80 years, the foundation has been shaping Greenwood's nonprofit world. It provides essential grants for many community organizations, and its leadership has been a resource for executive directors in all fields. Jim Self, when he took over the foundation from his father, was instrumental in getting the Greenwood Genetics Center started.

Austin Lathren has seen run-down and dilapidated houses throughout the 19 years he's lived in Greenwood.Now, as a junior at Lander University and the City of Greenwood's administrative intern, he was given the chance to pave the way for dealing with these blighted properties."From Day One since I got here for my internship, they said this is your task," he said.The job was to take stock of the properties in city limits deemed unsafe for habitation, according to the International Property Maintenance Code. After that, city and code enforcement staff would help him draft a new process that would give the government more bite when clamping down on code violations.

The walk out to the dam at Lake Conestee is a short downhill/uphill, past the remains of an old mill that died decades ago. That mill is the reason this…