HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Tunnel to Towers Foundation on Monday broke ground on a Veterans Village on riverfront property in Harrisburg that the foundation says will include an 84-unit permanent supportive housing program — a 64-unit apartment building plus 20 “comfort homes” — and on-site services for veterans.

The project, the foundation said at a public ceremony, will pair high-quality housing with behavioral health care, case management, employment assistance, peer support, financial counseling, legal advocacy and other services. The foundation’s leaders, along with Mayor Wanda R. D. Williams and state and military officials, described the site as a long-term effort to reduce veteran homelessness in the region.

Bradley Blakeman, identified at the event as a Tunnel to Towers Foundation board member and the ceremony host, said the Village was ‘‘to honor our nation’s heroes’’ and invited attendees to tour a model comfort home set up at the site. Frank Siller, the foundation’s chief executive officer and president, traced the charity’s origins to the response to 9/11 and described an expanded mission to ‘‘eradicate veteran homelessness’’ alongside the foundation’s existing work providing mortgage-free homes and smart homes for catastrophically injured service members and first responders.

Gavin Naples, the foundation’s senior vice president for its homeless veterans program, said the Harrisburg Village will house 84 veterans and that Tunnel to Towers has villages completed or in development in multiple other U.S. locations. ‘‘We will build a permanent supportive housing program for 84 veterans in the Harrisburg area,’’ Naples said. He also said the foundation has provided housing and access to services for more than 10,000 veterans since the program’s inception in late 2022 and noted the organization’s partnerships with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and local providers.

Mayor Wanda R. D. Williams welcomed the foundation to Harrisburg and described the project as ‘‘a commitment, a promise, a symbol’’ that will offer ‘‘not only shelter, but most importantly, dignity’’ to veterans. Major General John R. Rippey, identified at the ceremony as the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania and head of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said state resources and partnerships will support the effort and pledged the department’s cooperation.

State Senator Patty Kim thanked the foundation and said her office will work on legislative measures to ensure veterans receive benefits, tax exemptions or other supports. Multiple local organizations and individuals were recognized by the foundation as partners in bringing the property and project together.

The foundation emphasized that the Village model pairs housing with supportive services and local VA coordination so that residents receive case management and follow-up care. The ceremony did not record any formal municipal votes or land-use approvals; it was a fundraising and public-relations event celebrating the start of construction and recognizing donors, vendors and partner organizations.

Organizers encouraged local residents and attendees to view a memorial stone found on the site and to join a post-ceremony lunch and walkthrough of a sample comfort home. The foundation asked service members and first responders in attendance to stand for recognition during the program.

No construction schedule, final budget, specific funding breakdown or dates for occupancy were provided during the ceremony. Speakers gave several numerical figures about the foundation’s national work (for example, the foundation stated it had provided services to ‘‘over 10,000 veterans’’ since late 2022 and said it assisted ‘‘over 7,500 veterans’’ in 2025); those program totals were presented by foundation officials at the event but the ceremony did not include documentary budget or contract details and did not record local government approvals.