LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The Way I See It |
by Steve Elkins, Editor |
As the summer season draws near, the staff, volunteers, and visitors of CAMP Rehoboth are still reveling in our new offices at 39 Baltimore Avenue. After the tiny space that we occupied for so many years, it's a wonderful luxury for us to be in a place that can handle all the many projects and programs that are a part of CAMP Rehoboth. We do have one big problem, however, our new home is in an older building that is not handicapped accessible. To build a ramp to code would require a structure thirty-six feet long with several turns. A ramp that size would take up a tremendous part of the CAMP courtyard, eat into the seating for Lori's Caf, and block access to Lambda Rising and Community Pride Financial. The best solution we can find is to install an exterior chair lift attached to the courtyard entrance. The cost of the project is going to be around five thousand dollars. It is important to us that we finish this project as quickly as possible, not because anyone is making us do it, but because CAMP Rehoboth needs to be accessible to everyone. Before we go ahead with this project, however, the staff and Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth wanted me to make a plea for a few "angels" or maybe I should say "fairy Godmothers," to help underwrite the cost. Anyone interested in giving a little (or a lot!) of support, can call me at CAMP Rehoboth, 302-227-5620.
Speaking of giving support, each year our list of volunteers keeps growing and we couldn't get by without the generous efforts a great many people. A very special thank you to Judy Turner, Cindy Johnson, Mary Brett, and Ellen Watkins for repainting the rainbow colored tables in the CAMP courtyard; to Adel Baghouli and his crew at Colorwise Painting for repainting all the courtyard trim and doors; and Jimmy Windsor of Windsor's Florist for the plantings in the courtyard. To volunteer for anything, give volunteer co-ordinator Kathy Weir a call, and she'll see that you're pointed in the right direction. In this issue is a reprint of an article written by Paula Martinac on the growing number of gay and lesbian community centers around the country. "But what I like about our community centers," she says, "is that they strive to create a physical "home" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. That's no small thing, since we often experience everything from lack of understanding to open hostility from our own families." I am very excited about our own work in this area. As plans for the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center continue to become a reality, more and more people are getting involved. We will celebrate that involvement at the Black and White Beach Ball on June 1 at the Atlantic Sands on Baltimore Avenue. If you have any interest in helping us build a "home for all," please join us for that event, and bring your friends. Tickets are $30, and are limited, so call the CAMP office for reservations. Unfortunately, gay people are being swept up in the current scandal rocking the Catholic Church, because the problem is being wrongly linked to the admission of gays into the priesthood. Last week the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called upon the church "to punish wrongdoers, without sweeping the problem under the carpet by blaming and persecuting innocent people because of who they are." In the preceding issue of Letters, three of our writers chose to express differing opinions on the mattersome I agreed with, some I didn't. My point is that it is affecting us all regardless of our religious beliefs, and will be used against us by our enemies, you can be sure of that. It is an issue that needs discussion, both within the church and from the outside. Letters welcomes your opinion on the subject. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 04, May 3, 2002 |