In March 2024, Harrisburg City and Dauphin County were wrestling with the struggle of disbanding an encampment of over 100 unhoused individuals living along a section Interstate 83 slated for expansion starting in the Fall of 2025. The County provided funding to expand homeless shelter space and create affordable housing options for extremely low-income residents, but when discussing these new options to people living at the current encampment several of the residents expressed their desire to continue to live outdoors. These residents did not want a traditional housing situation. They preferred to live outdoors and were not willing to move to an indoor location. After hearing this, community leader and Executive Director of Amiracle4sure Marsha Curry-Nixon, begin thinking outside of the box.  

Amiracle4sure has a history of providing support to neighbors who others often turn away since 2014. As a leader in people first supportive services, Amiracle4sure has always stood in the gap, providing the necessities of life to those turned away from other organizations, despite the obstacles. Marsha’s solutions-oriented thinking led to opening her office for showers for the homeless, where you can find her 3 days a week doing laundry and talking with neighbors who walk in. When Marsha’s long-time consultant, Dr. Amber Borreli, mentioned the desire for some of the encampment residents to continue living outdoors, they began brainstorming. They discussed allowing people to live in backyards or on the office porch. Although they knew those options were not realistic, they believed in the right of individuals to choose how they want to live and wanted to create a way to honor that choice. They began writing out a proposal to buy a few vacant lots throughout the city to set up for outdoor living. Marsha was dedicated to finding a solution and decided now was the time to do something radically different. She presented the proposal to Dauphin County Human Services as an alternative housing choice model. Dauphin County representatives thought this idea was not just a good idea, it was a viable option.   

Amiracle4sure continued to work to plan and develop the proposal from idea into a viable opportunity. When the team locate a 4-acre parcel the City of Harrisburg agreed to allow outdoor living Amiracle4sure moved swiftly, bought the parcel at a price below the listed amount with funding provided by Dauphin County. 

This was not a regular affordable housing or even shelter program creation. The current encampment had orders to disperse by August, and it was the end of May. Before the ink dried on the contract, Amiracle4sure’s Tim White (Director of Operations) and Greg Carter (Director of Programs) got to work building AMiracle Community, A Place Where Housing Choice is Valued.  

AMiracle Community will begin welcoming residents in August 2025. There is currently space for 60 families to choose outdoor living. The property will include an office onsite where residents can receive case management support. Residents will have access to a cooking area, a smoking area, two portable toilets, fresh water, charging stations, mail delivery, and dumpsters. Individuals and organizations who currently provide outreach and support at the encampment will continue to serve free meals, offer street medicine services, and provide opportunities for connection. Residents have to agree to some guidelines, such as leashing pets, not cooking or smoking in tents, and not engaging in physical altercations.  

As AMiracle Community evolves, Amiracle4sure will work with residents to develop other deeply affordable housing options on the site, while keeping space for outdoor living for those who continue to make that choice. We do not know at this time what that will look like; however, Amiracle4sure will continue to work with our neighbors to ensure this community continues to provide housing choice for all.