We offer a walk-in Day Shelter, personalized Client Assistance, Street Outreach, and a winter Night Shelter. All hungry, homeless people in Harrisburg have access to our services. Client demographics are 81% male, 45% Black, and 8% U.S. veterans.
In 2022, we anticipate helping more than 1,000 people. Each client has a unique timeline for overcoming their hardships. While 55% of clients use our services for less than one year, 45% receive assistance for years. Chronically homeless ... Read More
We offer a walk-in Day Shelter, personalized Client Assistance, Street Outreach, and a winter Night Shelter. All hungry, homeless people in Harrisburg have access to our services. Client demographics are 81% male, 45% Black, and 8% U.S. veterans.
In 2022, we anticipate helping more than 1,000 people. Each client has a unique timeline for overcoming their hardships. While 55% of clients use our services for less than one year, 45% receive assistance for years. Chronically homeless people struggle with multiple, significant issues such as mental illness, substance abuse, and trauma.
Current Programs
The Day Shelter is a walk-in resource center offering beds, restrooms, seating areas, e-charging stations, phones, and computers. Clients complete a brief intake with staff. Daily attendance on weekdays is 60 to 85 people. Most stay for hours. The shelter is open year-round; current hours are weekdays 7 a.m.–3 p.m. and weekends 7 a.m.–12 p.m.
The Night Shelter is a first come, first serve shelter offering 30+ beds for homeless men every evening during the cold weather season, November 1 to March 31, annually. Check in is from 7 p.m.—8 p.m. On most nights, the shelter is full. Check out is at 7 a.m. Staff are always present for safety, oversight, and conversation. Lights go out at 10 p.m.
The Soup Kitchen prepares and serves 120+ warm free meals on an average day. Open for breakfast on weekdays from 7 a.m.–8 a.m. and daily for lunch from 12 p.m.–1 p.m., we are the only food assistance organization in the city offering indoor dining. The Central PA Food Bank is a lead partner. Volunteers help serve lunch on weekdays.
No check-in or ID is required to receive meals. Most clients are adults, ranging in age from 18 to 80 years old and representing varied backgrounds and cultures. Less than 5 times a month, families with children younger than school age come to eat. At least 50% of clients in the Soup Kitchen are homeless and access other DDB services. The balance are people with housing but who struggle with limited income and/or lack of social community.
Every weekday from 8:30 a.m.–12 p.m., Client Assistance is available. Services include access to mail delivery, showers, clothing, personal care items, and storage lockers. Staff also provide one-on-one personalized counseling and connection to housing, job training, and higher-level assistance programs. Depending on need, clients may also receive bus passes for important appointments, laundromat debit cards, and vouchers to obtain new/replacement state-issued photo IDs.
Since DDB is a known gathering place of homeless people, we provide free, private meeting space for 10+ Partner Organizations to offer services. Crisis Intervention and UPMC’s Street Medicine Nurse visit daily. HELP Ministries, Case Management Unit, UPMC Medical Team, YWCA Veterans’ Assistance, and Dauphin County Drug & Alcohol offer weekly hours. Dauphin County Mental Health, Harrisburg Police, and Social Security staff visit as needed.
To help people who prefer not to come indoors, our Client Counselor and Homeless Case Manager conduct Street Outreach 3-4 times per week, year-round. They visit tent encampments and other locations on foot and in all weather conditions. When there is a client emergency, our counselors reach out during evening and weekend hours. Staff offer counseling and essentials items such as water, food, blankets, and tarps.
2021 Accomplishments
Thanks to the support of our donors, 1,000 individuals who were hungry, homeless, or at risk of being homeless, received assistance at Downtown Daily Bread in 2021.
• The Soup Kitchen fed 26,064 people for breakfast and lunch meals.
• Our Day Shelter registered 11,719 visits. Average daily visits grew from 35 people in January to 68 people by December, in part due to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
•The Night Shelter opened a month earlier than in past years and filled to its 40-person capacity most nights in November and December.
•Partner organizations expanded their use of the Day Shelter to offer valuable services. UPMC initiated a weekly medical clinic led by a doctor and nurse.
•In Client Assistance, we provided 4,348 showers, 600 laundry debit cards ($10 value), 3,000 bus passes ($3 value), and 120 photo ID vouchers ($31.50 value).
Donors make our efforts possible. Together we help improve the lives of
hungry and homeless people.
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