An encampment at an overlook in Riverfront Park, behind the old Waterworks building
Harrisburg is urging people living in tents along the riverfront to move on.
To address a recent increase of unhoused people residing in Riverfront Park, the city posted signs stating that all belongings must be moved from the area.
According to Harrisburg Communications Director Matt Maisel, the rise in the number of people living along the river has created sanitary concerns and health hazards.
On Tuesday, the city temporarily removed the signs to clarify the language in the public notice, but the order to vacate still stands.
Several tents can be seen congregated at an overlook in the park, behind the old Waterworks building. Others are scattered along the upper and lower riverwalk paths.
This increase has caused sanitation concerns in the city, as the Public Works Department has had to routinely clean up the area, Maisel said. He added that city code prohibits people from camping in parks and dumping things into the Susquehanna River.
While Maisel said that the city recognizes that homeless people have camped in the park for years, the issue has become worse as of late and Harrisburg can no longer “turn a blind eye” to the situation, he said.
A sign posted by the city in Kunkel Plaza in Riverfront Park
One woman currently living along the riverfront said that she saw the city’s signs, but that she had not heard from the city when she would need to leave or where she should go. There is no date marked on the signs.
“What do we do? Where do we go? We are in limbo,” said the woman, who asked to be referred to as LS.
According to Maisel, the signs are purposely vague, as the city is not currently setting a deadline for the move.
“No one is getting arrested, as we’ve stressed all along it is not a crime to be homeless, and we are purposely not setting a date, yet,” he said.
Unlike this time, the city did set eviction deadlines for homeless encampments in other areas of the city twice earlier this year.
City officials also cited health concerns when, in January, they evicted people living under the Mulberry Street Bridge, which was one of the largest encampments in Harrisburg at the time. The city determined that the area needed a deep cleaning and extermination, stating that it had been infested with rats. Since then, the area was fenced off and later, PennDOT, which owns the land, placed large rocks in the area to deter people from returning.
Again in June, the city announced an eviction at an encampment which had popped up along the Capital Area Greenbelt trail, just off Shanois Street. Several occupants of the encampment, which the city said was located largely on private property, had previously lived under the Mulberry Street Bridge.
With the holidays coming, Maisel said that the city doesn’t want to create any “serious disruptions” during this time of the year, which is why they aren’t setting a deadline for the move. Instead, he said, they are working with area service providers and the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness (CACH) to help those in need.
According to Aisha Mobley, community mobilization coordinator for Christian Churches United of the Tri-County Area (CCU), her organization, along with others, have been assisting those living on the riverfront.
Some people that they’ve helped have lived in the park for years, she said.
“My job is to service the people that need help,” she said. “If they want to move, I’m there to help them.”
In Harrisburg, CCU will open a winter overnight shelter for men and one for women and non-binary people on Dec. 1, both remaining open through March. Downtown Daily Bread will also open a night shelter for men on the same date. Mobley hopes that those living along the riverfront will utilize the shelters, though she recognizes that it’s not a long-term solution.
LS said that she has lived in her tent in Riverfront Park for a few months and occasionally stays in the large encampment near the PennDOT building and the I-83 ramp, as well.
The PennDOT encampment, which is currently the largest in the city, has become overcrowded and at times, dangerous, LS said. But right now, it feels like her only option if she is forced to leave the riverfront, she shared.
However, even the future of the PennDOT encampment is uncertain as the state Department of Transportation’s I-83 widening project may affect that area. Mobley believes that, at some point, the encampment will be dispersed as construction work begins.
The city, county and members of CACH are working on a longer-term plan to address homelessness in Harrisburg, she assured.
“We are working to come up with a collective and collaborative plan,” she said.
And while Mobley believes the winter overnight shelters will provide enough space for those who need them this season, she expressed the need for more “low-barrier” shelters, ones that offer easy access, in the future. Additionally, a lack of housing, especially affordable housing, is another issue exasperating the homelessness issue, she said.
In the meantime, those who find themselves living unsheltered are wondering, what’s next?
On Monday night, LS arranged blankets in her tent, preparing for the cold night ahead.
“I have dreams and goals. It’s not like we want to be here,” said LS. “We are going through trauma, and we just get overlooked. Now, we are all just being scattered.”
For more information about CCU and their winter overnight shelters, visit their website.
This story has been updated.
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