Neighborhood Improvement Association

The mission of NIA is to produce change in communities located in the Coastal Empire by assisting individuals and families with assets building by collaborating with communities based organizations, government agencies and others to produce long-term transformation at the neighborhood level. 

Neighborhood Improvement Association (NIA) is a community-based organization, established in 1996 to promote economic self sufficiency.  Since its existence, NIA has engaged in various housing development and financial independence programs, such as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program.  

VITA is a federally-sponsored community-based program that offers free, high quality tax preparation service for low to moderate income taxpayers, the elderly, people with disabilities and people with limited English proficiency.  

The local VITA program is operated under the umbrella of the Savannah Coastal Empire Asset Development Coalition.  NIA is the lead organization for the coalition which has over 25 partners.   The footprint for the Savannah Coalition is the Savannah - Chatham, Effingham Bryan, and Liberty Counties.  In 2018, the coalition saved taxpayers over $1.52 million in tax preparation fees and helped them receive over $4.4 million in refundable tax credits - credits added to the taxpayers' refund which boosted their income by up to over $9,000.  This refund can serve as an avenue to pull filers out of poverty, help them pay down debts, build up savings and purchase valuable assets, to name a few.  With the tax preparation savings, credits and the federal refund, the tax payers received over 13 million in benefits from the VITA program.    

As a VITA program, we accomplish our goal by the help of valuable volunteers who become IRS trained and certified. Volunteers are offered an option of flexible hours and with over 13 sites, the choice of locations are also available.