Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Shelter on South Street: Local soup kitchen will offer beds to homeless this winter

Downtown Daily Bread will open an overnight shelter at its location at 234 South Street.

Following a change in policy at Harrisburg’s largest rescue mission, a downtown soup kitchen plans to open an emergency overnight shelter for 30 homeless men.

Downtown Daily Bread, a soup kitchen and daytime shelter operated by Pine Street Presbyterian Church on N. 3rd Street, got approval from the city Planning Commission to operate a 30-bed men’s shelter from Dec. 1 to March 31 at its facility at 234 South St.

The organization expects to get a stamp of approval from the Zoning Hearing Board later this month, the final step in the permitting process, according to Anne Guenin, director of Downtown Daily Bread.

Downtown Daily Bread currently runs a daily drop-in shelter where people can nap, shower, receive meals and pick up mail. It serves between 70 and 90 people on an average day, Guenin said.

The night shelter will be in the same facility as the daytime shelter, which operates from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The nighttime shelter will open at 7:30 p.m., giving crews time to clean and convert the gymnasium to a dormitory with cots, and close at 6 a.m.

Guenin said that the shelter originated in response to an operational change at Bethesda Mission, which this year decided to open its emergency shelter only in extreme weather conditions. Bill Christian, director of the Bethesda Mission men’s shelter, said that his organization made this choice to better serve its neediest clients.

Christian and Guenin both explained that some patrons of overnight shelters have sources of income, but surrender their housing arrangements when winter shelters open.

Bethesda Mission served as many as 160 people every night in its shelter last year, far exceeding its 120-person capacity, Christian said. He estimated that a third of that population had sources of income and could afford housing.

But since Bethesda Mission ran a shelter from Dec. 1 to March 31, some low-income clients knew they could rely on the shelter for a place to stay and save money, Christian said.

This year, the emergency shelter at Bethesda Mission will provide 120 beds when temperatures dip below 20 degrees or when there is freezing precipitation. It will continue to operate its year-round temporary shelter, which offers initial stays of 20 days along with food, clothing and counseling services.

When the emergency shelter opened on a weather-dependent basis in the past, it never had as many clients as it did last year, Christian said.

“If a person knows that certain weather conditions have to be met, he won’t give up his boarding room,” Christian said.

Guenin and Christian and their staffs have told patrons about the changes and encouraged them to retain their housing if they have it.

Between this outreach effort and the 30 additional beds opening at Downtown Daily Bread, they hope—but are not certain—that anyone seeking shelter in Harrisburg will find it. Both said that some homeless people do not seek shelter, possibly because of zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies in effect at most missions.

While both the Downtown Daily Bread and Bethesda Mission shelters only serve men, the YWCA of Harrisburg operates a shelter for women and children at 1101 Market St. Guenin said that most of the homeless population Daily Bread serves is male.

To be eligible for a bed at Downtown Daily Bread’s overnight shelter, a patron must not have a source of income. Shelter staff will try to determine a patron’s eligibility during the nightly intake period, but Guenin expects that during their daytime services will help with recruitment.

“We’re starting that process now and already making a roster of who might be eligible,” she said.

Equipment and operating costs for the four-month shelter period will amount to roughly $50,000, Guenin said. Downtown Daily Bread plans to hire four additional staff to manage the shelter and provide overnight security, and will also buy a new washer and dryer to launder bed linens.

To learn about Downtown Daily Bread or donate to the shelter fund, visit https://pinestreet.org/ministries/downtown-daily-bread.

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