Overland Community Leader Paralyzed After Home Invasion

A home invasion on December 1 has upended the lives of two leaders in the Overland neighborhood.

Helene Orr, who also goes by Denie, and her partner, Joanne Weiss, are longtime employees of the Hermitage Bookshop, at 290 Fillmore Street, one of Denver's oldest independent bookstores. They're also active in their neighborhood in south Denver, serving on a handful of boards and groups that advocate for Overland.

According to Orr, a man entered their home after shooting out the back door, then shot Weiss three times — twice in the lung and once in the spine — "causing life-altering injuries."

Weiss is now paralyzed from the sternum down. According to the Denver Police Department, no arrests have been made.

"Our life is shattered," Orr says.

The shooting happened in the 500 block of West Jewell Avenue, which is about three blocks north of La Paz, the largest city-funded micro-community for homeless residents in Denver. The site was opened as part of Mayor Mike Johnston's All In Mile High strategy to end homelessness in his first term, but as with other AIMH sites, residents have questioned how safe it is.


"This is still an ongoing investigation. Investigators have not identified a link between the micro-community and this incident. We are still investigating suspect info, motivation and the circumstances surrounding this incident. An arrest has not been made at this stage of the investigation," a statement from the mayor's office reads. "The safety of Denver residents is our top priority, and we will continue to investigate this incident in order to bring justice for the victims. We run warrant checks for individuals coming into All in Mile High sites and will continue to do that."

Orr is known for decades of advocacy in the Overland neighborhood, dating back to her fight in the 1980s and 1990s against the Environmental Protection Agency and the S.W. Shattuck Company for dumping hazardous waste near homes in the area. She and Weiss also spoke at Denver City Council meetings and with the media to oppose plans to host the Grandoozy Music Festival in the neighborhood in 2018, the only year the festival took place.

Later, Orr served as the president of the Neighbors of Overland North, a registered neighborhood organization. In that role, she advocated for residents who were worried about the proposed size of the La Paz micro-community, which was supposed to house 120 residents. This led to a compromise to reduce its capacity by half. She has since been active on Good Neighbor committees to monitor how the site is run.

Micro-communities are small, communal living sites for homeless residents, where they get their own shack-sized unit and case management services to help them transition out of homelessness and into permanent housing. The city is currently keeping about 160 homeless residents in micro-communities, including sixty at La Paz, and no longer has plans to increase La Paz's size to 120 units, according to the District 7 Denver City Council office.

Residents and staff inside the micro-community reported early success with the site in June, but Overland residents living around it had mixed feelings, with some upset about increased theft and trespassing on their property. On November 21, the Denver Auditor presented a report that found the AIMH sites aren't enforcing safety policies well enough and failing to ensure that the providers running sites comply with security standards.

The Hermitage Bookshop is now raising $50,000 for its two longtime employees to cover their medical expenses, including costs not covered by their insurance, mobility equipment, physical therapy and modifying their home for accessibility. So far, the GoFundMe campaign has reached nearly $40,000.