Property owner willing to work with center to find a more suitable location

The Do Drop In day center for homeless people isn't suitable for its location, according to the property's owner, who recently notified the center it will be evicted.

"Dee Dee Foremaster is a good person and the services she provides are needed in our community, but the center is not compatible with a commercial center, hers or any other," JoAnn Sheerin wrote in an e-mail.

Foremaster is director of the Rural Center for Independent Living and Do Drop In, a day center for homeless and disabled, at 411 Hot Springs Road, No. 4.

Sheerin had the Carson City Sheriff's Office serve an eviction notice Nov. 15 to Foremaster ordering her to vacate in 30 days.

When asking about leasing the space, Foremaster told her it was for a counseling center, not a drop-in center for the homeless, according to Sheerin.

"I learned about the drop-in center by reading the article in the Appeal (in August)," wrote Sheerin, a Carson City resident who is currently out of the country.

"I contacted her immediately and asked her why she was not up front (with me). I told her I was willing to give it a try and let her stay unless we started having some problems I outlined in writing some restrictions."

Foremaster said she was never vague about her intentions.

"The reality is, most homeless are disabled," Foremaster said. "I believe the words I used when telling her were, 'It will be a resource center and drop-in center for people with disabilities and the homeless.'

"JoAnn may not have known what drop-in meant. That may be the misunderstanding. When she said we could work together on it, I apologized for the misunderstanding."

The center is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Foremaster and volunteers assist the disabled and homeless in getting Social Security services, health care, living accommodations and jobs. Since opening Aug. 30, she has helped eight people get off the streets and into apartments, as well as gain employment.

In Sheerin's e-mail, she said clients were loitering around other businesses, using bad language and sleeping in the Dumpster area.

"No one's come to me and said people were using bad language," Foremaster said. "If someone had, I would certainly tell them not to use bad language. I can't control bad language when it's outside the building. Inside my center, yes."

Foremaster also said the homeless person living near the Dumpster was notified immediately, and she had the person sweep the area. After a complaint by a neighboring business about cigarette smoke entering through a rear warehouse door, Foremaster said, she quickly moved the smoking area about 100 feet away.

When Sheerin returns to Carson City, she wrote, "I will work with Dee Dee to see if there is another place in our community which will work for them."

"I need all the help I can get from anyone who wishes to assist me, even JoAnn," Foremaster said.

"If she's going to assist me, then I'm all for it. I need help from everyone in this community to find a suitable place for this center."

To lend a hand, call Foremaster at the center at 841-2580.

- Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.