Providing Services; Embracing Change
I don’t know about you, but summer cannot come soon enough! The last two weeks of gloomy weather has me hungering for sun-filled days on the beach, happy hour at Aqua, and hanging out in the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard noshing on a bagel from Lori’s Oy Vey Café.
Slowly but surely, life is coming back to a new normal that feels more familiar than I could have hoped. While COVID is still rearing its ugly head, thanks to vaccines and boosters infection rates remain low and in most cases those who test positive are experiencing mild symptoms.
Speaking of health and wellness, the staff at CAMP Rehoboth has remained focused on our primary mission of providing impactful free health and wellness programming to the community throughout the year. One such initiative is the CAMPsafe program, which seeks to prevent new HIV infections and reinfections among negative and positive community members.
Thanks to a longstanding contract with Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), CAMPsafe staff and volunteer HIV testers and counselors continue to provide free health workshops and screenings, and HIV-STD testing and prevention. The program targets the Rehoboth area, western Sussex County, and beyond. Throughout the pandemic CAMP Rehoboth served as a vital resource for the state offering continuous service and support. That included having a presence at events ranging from the hugely popular Firefly Music Festival to a health fair hosted by Beebe Healthcare.
I recently spoke with DHSS Division of Public Health staffer Ray Collins, who coordinates the HIV testing program statewide. He shared that CAMP Rehoboth’s efforts in western Sussex County have been instrumental in combatting the surge in HIV infections from IV drug use. Ray attributes Delaware’s ability to raise awareness about how HIV is spread and to get people into treatment as soon as possible in part to the success of the CAMPsafe program.
Maintaining the community’s mental health is also central to our ability to create a more positive Rehoboth, and nothing heals the soul better than music. Attending one of this month’s Great American Songbook concerts by the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus was definitely something good for what ailed me. More than 700 people attended the three concerts at Epworth United Methodist Church, where close to 60 chorus members sang unforgettable music by America’s greatest 20th-century songwriters, including Ira Gershwin, Billy Joel, and Carol King.
Did I hear someone ask for more music this summer? I am happy to answer your prayers with the announcement in this issue of Letters that SUNDANCE is returning Labor Day weekend. Emmy-award winning comedian Judy Gold kicks off SUNFESTIVAL 2022’s extravaganza on Saturday, September 3, followed by SUNDANCE on Sunday, September 4. Fan favorite DJ Robbie Leslie will start us off spinning disco hits from Studio 54 at the SUNDANCE Twilight Tea followed by THE SUNDANCE, featuring New York-based DJ/Producer/Remixer James Anthony. For more details, check out the two-page announcement on page 10, or visit camprehoboth.com/sunfestival2022.
I invite you to join me to exhale the past and inhale the future. ▼
TRANSITION
During times of transition in my personal and professional life, I have found comfort in this quote from Socrates: “The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.” As a consultant, I have led complicated initiatives launching new programs as well as reimagining existing ones. Those that achieved success had three things in common: align stakeholders on the vision, seek input from them during the process, and communicate progress along the way.
To that end, I am allocating a third of my column for the foreseeable future to provide the community with updates about CAMP Rehoboth’s leadership transition. After seeking input from non-profit management experts, the board has chosen a path forward designed to strengthen current operations, assess how best to deliver services, and develop a plan capable of achieving sustainable outcomes.
Strengthen: Attracting and retaining the talent necessary to achieve CAMP’s mission requires a leader who is passionate about serving others and has proven expertise managing day to day operations. Which is why the board selected Lisa Evans to serve as Acting Manager until an Interim Executive Director is hired. Lisa brings 30 years of experience running programs and leading nonprofits in the Baltimore area.
I am excited to also share that former Financial Assistant temp Derrick Johnson has joined the fulltime staff at CAMP Rehoboth. You can read more about Derrick in CAMP News (page 8).
Assess: The Executive Committee is wrapping up the interview process to identify an Interim Executive Director who has proven experience in assessing an organization’s strategic focus, leadership and management, governance, human resource capacity, and financial and fundraising structure against leading practices. Our goal is to have this person in place by mid-June. ▼
Wesley Combs is CAMP Rehoboth Board President.