Despite an impending Artic air mass, a 20-year-old homeless woman who is bundled in a blanket and sitting in front of a campfire off South Front Street in Harrisburg isn’t leaving.
She was appropriately named Winter, and on December 29th, she celebrated one year of living on the streets of Harrisburg. She does not, however, intend to use any of the city-based shelters that provide warmth and safety, unlike last winter.
Winter told PennLive on Friday that there are numerous explanations. She has a two-year-old German Shepherd named Shayla with her partner, Bob, a 32-year-old man who has been homeless for four years.
They claim to be happy in their expansive camp, which has grown to be Harrisburg’s largest homeless community, located north of the PennDOT facility and south of Shipoke, close to the front of the forested region.
They have a heater for kerosine. They and another homeless person share a gas generator, which they use to power various devices, including a TV connected to a digital antenna. MacGyver is their favorite program.
That is, all the conveniences of home. Or, they said, the majority of them.
Bob fixes machinery, including lawn mowers, for a living. He has a fence to keep thieves away from his numerous maintenance jobs. Shayla keeps watch as well.
However, they said that these repairs, their heater, and their TV would undoubtedly be taken if the couple sought refuge at a shelter to avoid the impending cold.
In reference to the over 100 people who live in the South Front Street encampment, Winter remarked, “There are a lot of sticky fingers around here.” The shelters have excessively strict rules on what you can and cannot bring.
In spite of what AccuWeather forecasts will be the coldest, most persistent chilly Arctic air in years, how many other homeless people will persevere? Anyone can guess that.
A dog waits for its owner while perched on a wagon beneath a stack of blankets. At Harrisburg’s campsite on South Front Street between Shipoke and the PennDOT office, homeless people are coping with the harsh winter weather.
January 3, 2025.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
It is predicted that the subfreezing temperatures will occur in waves and persist until the middle of January. According to AccuWeather, storms bringing ice and snow will join in. This could turn out to be the coldest January for the whole United States since 2011, according to one meteorologist.
Numerous shelters and organizations that assist Harrisburg’s homeless population stated that they are prepared to handle the surge in demand for drop-in night shelter beds, among other seasonal requirements, throughout this potentially fatal winter weather.
There are approximately 445 homeless people in the city, including roughly 100 in the South Front Street encampment next to the I-83 bridge, according to Harrisburg spokesperson Mischelle Moyer.
According to Moyer, the city recently granted $500,000 to two shelters to expand and run year-round in order to improve housing for this sizable group.
With the help of the American Rescue Plan, Downtown Daily Bread was able to change its operations from being seasonal to year-round as of November 1, 2024. According to Moyer, the shelter feeds over 100 people every day and provides 50 beds to individuals.
With the money, Christian Churches United, the second group, expanded its 25-bed women’s shelter to operate year-round. In the winter, it also runs a men’s shelter with 23 beds.
In the city, eight organizations provide a total of 425 shelter beds. Many of these, such as the 129 beds at the Bethesda Men’s Mission and the 50 beds at the Bethesda Women’s Mission, are designated for homeless people who are enrolled in programs. Moyer noted that at least one shelter accommodates intact families, while others are designated for women and children.
The executive director of Christian Churches United, Darrel Reinford, told PennLive on Friday that there have been roughly ten beds left unoccupied at each of his shelters for men and women. However, if the weather drops over the next few days, things might suddenly alter.
We can make room for certain people who wish to enter, Reinford stated. However, there are undoubtedly more homeless persons than there are beds in shelters.
According to Corrie Lingenfelter, executive director of Downtown Daily Bread, her multi-service organization is already operating at full capacity. According to her, the South Street day drop-in center serves 130 people on average every day and offers hot meals, baths, medical care, and a secure place to hide from the weather.
According to Lingenfelter, DDB’s overnight shelter’s 50 beds are constantly at or above full. DDB uses a street outreach team to provide tents, blankets, hand warmers, and winter clothes to the estimated 120 persons residing in various municipal encampments in order to reach those who are unable or unable to receive services at the shelter.
Nevertheless, she is concerned since cold weather are approaching.
The impending frigid weather and its effects on our homeless community are major concerns for us at Downtown Daily Bread, Lingenfelter stated. In order to fulfill the increasing need, the charity is aggressively seeking contributions of coats, gloves, and thermal gear, she continued.
All of the city’s drop-in night shelters will be fully occupied when the weather finally arrives, according to Lisa Kessler-Peters, manager of Unsheltered Services of Help Ministries/Christian Churches United in the Tri-County Area. However, many more individuals will brave the weather, including Winter, Bob, and their dog.
All of the aid organizations are aware that this is just a reality of homelessness.
Kessler-Peters told PennLive that couples who don’t want to part ways are the two top reasons people decide not to enter the overnight shelters. Or they own a pet. Although we make an effort to provide shelter for animals, the unhoused virtually invariably decide to leave their pet outside in the weather.
Because of this, ordinary persons like Scott Shank of Derry Township and Keith Jones of Steelton decide to aid the homeless in any way they can. On Friday, both were working independently at the encampment on South Front Street, bringing hot food, steaming coffee, warm blankets, and even Sterno canisters for heating.
Shank clarified that some people do not choose to visit a shelter. Some of them are surviving on their own, and they are really resilient. All we want to do is support them, encourage them, and be there for them. We are only doing that.
Jones even thinks their grit is admirable.
He claimed that they are fierce and fight for themselves. They don’t want to feel hampered or reliant on anyone else.
It’s part of the deal to feel the cold.
At the campground outside Shipoke in Harrisburg, Keith Jones of Steelton, on the right, distributes food and water to a homeless guy. At Harrisburg’s campsite on South Front Street between Shipoke and the PennDOT office, homeless people are coping with the harsh winter weather.
January 3, 2025.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
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