The homeless encampment on S. Front Street in Harrisburg clears out as PennDOT’s eviction date arrives.
Monday marked the move-out day for Harrisburg’s largest homeless encampment, and by mid-morning, officials and residents said the area was mostly vacant.
However, a few people did remain in the area, along S. Front Street, which is slated to become a construction site for PennDOT’s I-83 widening project.
For months, officials and community members have known that occupants of the encampment would need to move out, and city, county and state officials said they’ve had meetings to come up with a way to help.
In July, Dauphin County announced that nonprofit Amiracle4sure would oversee a new tent community, called “A Miracle Community,” off Cameron Street in South Harrisburg, providing an option for former tent city residents.
But on Monday, several people who had just gathered their belongings to move said that they were not interested in the new encampment. Most said they were not sure where they would go next.
“It’s a parking lot; let’s call it what it is,” said John, a longtime tent city occupant who lived in a large shelter that he constructed of tents and tarps. Moving to the new community, “will never happen,” he said.
John said that police came to the “tent city” encampment early in the morning to instruct people that it was time to leave and that they would be trespassing if they stayed.
The city and volunteers estimated that around 10 or fewer people still remained at the encampment on Monday morning. In the past, the encampment had, at times, housed over 100 people.
According to Harrisburg’s communications director Mischelle Moyer, PA Capitol Police are handling enforcement, and city police will only assist if asked. Moyer said that the directive came from the mayor, who requested state police to take over.
Moyer also said that today the city removed porta-potties that were deployed at the location and turned off the water supplied to the area. In the near future, the Harrisburg Fire Bureau will work with PennDOT to dismantle remaining structures and clear the area, Moyer said.
Moyer said that, if occupants refuse to leave the property, the police may make arrests. The area will be permanently off-limits, she said.
While John said that he had already left the encampment earlier in the morning, he returned mid-morning to help others pack up.
“These are my friends and my family,” he said.
Another man, Kevin, sat on the curb across the street from the encampment on Monday. He wasn’t sure where he would go next, but, like John, he had no interest in going to the new “Miracle Community,” saying that the way tents were arranged didn’t provide privacy.
“At the end of the day, you need to have space,” he said.
Michon Zalewski, who runs Harrisburg nonprofit The Eclipse Project, was on site on Monday with her van, ready to help with the move out. She said that she has been encouraging people to give the new encampment community a try.
“It’s grown on me,” she said of the Miracle Community. “We’ve been encouraging people to try it. I look forward to seeing it grow.”
Several other volunteers, who have regularly visited the encampment over the years, hugged people and cried, calling it an “emotional day.”
“You become close with these people. They become your family,” said one man who asked not to be identified.
For those who do not move to the new encampment and do not seek housing or shelter, Moyer said the city won’t allow people to set up new encampments. She said the city will continue to move them.
“I don’t know where to go,” said Shannon, a two-year tent city occupant. “Not everyone wants to have a house. I have nothing.”
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