1736 Magazine - Fall 2018

Downtown Dwellers
Ross, Brittany & Max McDaniel
AGE: 29 & 26; son Max, 1-year-old
NEIGHBORHOOD: Harrisburg
For decades, Harrisburg was the kind of neighborhood
people moved from – not to.
The hollowing out of American manufacturing
sent the historically blue-collar neighborhood
into a tailspin, leaving mostly blighted blocks
of “shotgun shacks” between the city’s downtown
district and the posh Summerville neighborhood.
Although investments in the Augusta’s downtown
and medical districts have helped elevate Harrisburg’s
stature in recent years, the neighborhood is still not
the place one would expect to find young professionals
like Ross and Brittany McDaniel starting a family.
Faith, not finances, drove their decision last year to
sell their home in the National Hills subdivision and
purchase a three-bedroom bungalow on Russell Street.
Simply put, they are on a mission from God to make
Harrisburg a better place to live by being good neighbors.
They take to heart the message espoused in the
faith-based best-seller “When Helping Hurts: How
to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and
Yourself.”
The book advocates building lasting relationships
with the poor instead of giving short-term handouts
that rarely elevate people from poverty.
“One of the best ways we can do ministry is just by
living life with folks,” Ross said. “We don’t want to
be the paternalistic people. We just want to be neighbors.”
The couple and their 1-year-old son, Max, are members
of Harrisburg’s Crawford Avenue Baptist Church,
which is just a few blocks from their home. The Mc-
Daniels were among dozens of families who joined the
inner-city church when their previous church, Berea
Baptist in Evans, merged with the century-old congregation
in 2015.
The Russell Street home isn’t Ross’ first experience
living in Harrisburg. He and a roommate rented a
home on Starnes Street while working on his marketing
degree at Augusta University. He realized during
his college years the neighborhood was populated by
many civic-minded residents.
“One thing we noticed is that people would look out
for each other,” he said.
Ross volunteers with Turn Back The Block, a Harrisburg
revitalization organization that aims to increase
the number of owner-occupants.
The McDaniel’s 1930s bungalow cost more than their
previous 1960s-era ranch, but it also boasts 500 additional
square feet, a neighborhood with sidewalks and
– the McDaniel’s favorite feature – a front porch.
“Before, we were back-porch people,” he said. “Now
we hope to be front-porch people.”
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