Nehemiah Gateway is a project of Shiloh Baptist Church, Delaware's oldest Black Baptist church, whose activities are focused on reducing financial insecurities of marginalized community members within the state.  96% of our client base meets low-moderate income guidelines.

Nehemiah has a history of providing services to low-moderate income individuals and families to advance their economic standing in the community. Despite what appears to be a strong economy for some, many are faced with rising expenses, uncertain incomes, unstable wages, and limited opportunities to get ahead.  Too many of our clients feel left out of today’s economic success.  Many of our clients have financial needs that they grapple with throughout the year, including struggles to make ends meet to support the day to day cost of living, credit issues, how to increase household income, and worries about the future in general. These financial needs are especially critical in light of the current adverse economic impact of the Post-Pandemic period.  Our economic empowerment programming has been instrumental in addressing these challenges by providing support services to decrease financial insecurities through asset building, financial management and entrepreneurship.

Right Now – thousands of Delaware residents are relying on us to process their federal and state tax returns!  The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Initiative is the gateway program of the organization, and provides a viable medium to help us improve the ability of workers in lower paying jobs to support themselves and their families.  As a proven vehicle to increase the ability of workers in lower paying jobs to support themselves and their families the (EITC) provides the optimum platform for our success.  The EITC initiative is an effective Safety Net Program - Second only to Social security.  It is important because it lifts more Americans out of poverty than any other initiative and not only enhances income, but also help families save, plan and strengthens local economies.

Our programming has been instrumental in addressing these challenges by merging the EITC Free tax prep services with financial education to navigate this economic anxiety. The free tax prep helps to boost household income as our clients access tax refunds/credits, and provides access to clients throughout the entire state to promote ongoing interaction and assistance. The MoneyGoals financial education app enhances our individual financial coaching and allows us to manage more clients efficiently as they develop skills to establish goals, create a budget, work on credit issues, and learn about the benefits of savings for short/long term goals in a post COVID era. The un/under banked also learn about mainstream banking to ward off onerous predatory lending and check-cashing fees.

Nehemiah Gateway’s Tennis Rocks Tutoring and Music Association mission is to provide opportunities for our underserved at-risk youth and families in Wilmington and New Castle County to fulfill their maximum potential Academically, Socially and Physically.  We use Tutoring and Music to address educational needs and Tennis to develop physical fitness, Healthy lifestyles and essential life skills.