08/30/2026
Did you see the article in TheBurg that highlights the incredible momentum that is building in Allison Hill? Here is a small excerpt:
On Market Street, Wildheart Ministries, a community services organization, recently kicked off its first foray into housing. Through their project, nine for-sale units and three commercial spaces will come onto the market.
For about a decade, Wildheart founders, Tannon and Cristina Herman, and their team have organized trash cleanups and block parties and have taken over operations of an urban farm that grows food for neighbors. Through all that work, they’ve seen a huge shift in the community—especially when it comes to cleanliness, but still, they wanted to do more.
“People need housing and, at the same time, there’s all these houses that are falling apart or lots that aren’t being used,” Cristina said. “So, I really feel like that’s the next step.”
In March, Allison Hill was designated as a “Blueprint Community.” The program, run out of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, seeks to identify distressed communities and revitalize them. Wildheart has taken the lead on organizing the program locally, alongside other nonprofit leaders.
The program trains leaders for 18 months and helps them conduct surveys and create community plans. According to Tannon, one of the most important aspects is that it acts as a “gold star,” prioritizing projects when organizations apply for funding in the Hill.
He hopes this program will continue to spur the already expanding development.
“There’s a lot of development happening in the Hill right now—rental, homeownership, all of it, which is super cool,” he said. “Probably more projects happening in our area than anywhere else in the city at this exact time. I don’t think, personally, that I ever envisioned that was possible 10 years ago. Everything was just an uphill battle. There’s a lot of momentum.”
Read the full article here: https://theburgnews.com/around-the-burg/up-hill-theres-momentum-building-in-allison-hill-as-one-of-harrisburgs-historically-underinvested-neighborhoods-grows-changes?fbclid=IwY2xjawT_HSVwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5NtPBn5UlUn6ll61yCNltabD-Gz16n0I7GTlO80SbrYEKkOVxY90opXcNqNg_aem_g8UAhlMLsrxHT2JE5TkTUA
