LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ash covers what little remains of a house used by Black Lives Matter Louisville and its partners.
Okolona firefighters put out the Highview housefire Monday morning. Nobody was injured or around at the time of the fire.
Chanelle Helm, already misses the place she called Harriet's Hill — named after Harriet Tubman — even while walking through the rubble and slipping on crumbling brick. The fire took hold around 9 a.m., Helm found out about two hours later.
Helm, the longtime leader of Louisville's BLM chapter, is effectively the building's owner through another advocacy group, Stand Up Sundays, which worked there sometimes.
"And plenty of our organizers and some of their families had to come here and stay in emergency situations. I think that's been the most disheartening piece," she said.
Activists associated with Black Lives Matter Louisville used this place to store supplies they gave out to people in need and organize around policy changes they want. Helm ruled out the possibility of gas or electric starting the fire, because those services were off at the time.
Helm believes someone intentionally set the building on fire, pushing back the work ahead of her.
"The programming for next year, around housing, around the Community Bail Fund, around healing," she shared, sighing as she surveyed the damage on Tuesday.
While she heals from this, Louisville Metro Arson is actively investigating the cause of the fire. WHAS11 asked them about Helm's claim, but they wouldn't comment on the open investigation.
With nearly everything covered in soot, Helm isn't sure what's worth saving. Now she's figuring out how to restore Harriet's Hill while seeing hateful messages about BLM roll in.
"I get that the name and the work upsets a lot of people. But we really take care of our own, and we take care of our community, and just like any organizational structure that wants to buy property, we deserve the right to do that too. And that's not up for anybody's discussion or ridicule," she said.
Even with the setback, Helm said she'll keep working.
With their reduced capacity to help, Helm recommended several other organizations for assistance:
- Housing -- L.O.U. Outreach and Coalition for the Homeless
- Food -- Dare to Care and Street Tips at COH
- COVID masks -- MaskBLOC Lou or the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness
- Other needs -- Metro United Way
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