The History of Nehemiah Community Project

The Nehemiah Community Project was founded by our CEO Christopher L. Chambliss who is a native of the Maywood, IL neighborhood. He was born in the late sixties during a time of social, economic, and civil uncertainty, to a local business entrepreneur, turned local pastor, and later Bishop in that same community. Chris has seen many changes in the community and heard many unrealized promises for the betterment of Maywood during his development. He has always had a heart for his community that was dubbed “the city of eternal light”. NCP has grown from an infancy stage to now after four years, getting a service foothold, in order to establish a presence in the communities it serves. 

The Nehemiah Community Project was born out of decades of observation of the dearth of services for individuals and families in the community of Maywood, Illinois.  As a lifelong resident, I wanted to use my extensive background in both business and community service to assist those families that are under-resourced and most in need. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I often view Maywood as a “forgotten community.”  It is just far enough away from Chicago to not be seen or heard much about, but still suffering all the ills of urban blight that are so rampant in Chicago communities. The Nehemiah Community Project is a 501(c)3, a non-profit organization that was founded to serve the residents of the Maywood, IL proviso township and its surrounding areas.  The ability to provide comprehensive social services that will meet the needs of this underserved community is needed in a dire way. NCP focuses on forming strong partnerships with state, county, and local entities as well as faith leaders, hospitals, legislators, and other community leaders. 

NCP began with a group called, “En- Game” for men, which means ‘En-empower”, Game- to try a new approach with the community’s men, particularly young adults. This has grown to become a vital and lively engagement of service for men to come to meet weekly, with an increasing request for more.  Community members discuss topics that include but are not limited to family, mental health, faith, and most recently, the COVID 19 pandemic. The desired end is to offer hope to men that must lead in the communities in which they serve. This program is one of many examples of programming that NCP desires to offer to communities.

For NCP to obtain the necessary services needed to help the community, NCP will seek out statistical information to better tailor programming. We will use the US Census data as well as survey results from local middle schools and local high schools to customize needed services.