LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The Way I See It |
by Steve Elkins, Editor |
A few days ago I had the pleasure of meeting with a group of young people who were working with Public Allies Delaware, a nonprofit AmeriCorps program affiliated with the University of Delaware. Public Allies places young adults in nonprofit and public agencies for full-time, ten-month apprenticeships, and the group (pictured on page 5) had come to the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center to learn about our organization and to talk about what it means to build a nonprofit organization from the grassroots up. In the course of the discussion one of the points that seemed to impress the group most was our willingness to work with and for other organizations in whatever capacity was needed at the time. For the last couple of years, Kathy Weir has kept a running list of all the things we do in a given year. Her 2005 list appears on page 6 of this issue. That list includes the many organizations that partnered with us last year, and you know...I'm impressed too!
In the last issue of letters, we reported that peter schott had been elected president of the Delaware Stonewall Democrats, and now it is my pleasure to report that he has also been appointed by the Governor to the Delaware Human Relations Commission. His appointment means that now there are two (including myself) openly gay members of that commission. The purpose of the Human Relations Commission is to ensure equality in housing and public accommodations in the State of Delawareeven though the state has yet to pass the non-discrimination bill HB36 (formerly HB99), which includes housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. In the November issue of Letters, Fay Jacobs debuted a column based on the book When I Knew, that asks GLBT readers of this magazine to answer the question: When did you first suspect you were gay? The answers, of course, are as diverse as the individuals who wrote themsome are poignant, others hilariousand yet all of them are familiar in a funny kind of way. Yes they are individual tales, but they are also the tales of our community and we recognize one another in their telling. I hope that all of us will find time in the coming year to answer Fay's question. Responses can be e-mailed directly to Fay Jacobs at campoutreho@aol.com or to me at editor@camprehoboth.com. The second installment of When I Knew appears in this issue. Last May, with the renovation of 37 Baltimore Ave. and our subsequent move, CAMP Rehoboth completed the first phase of our new Community Center. Presently our timeline calls for the plans for the whole project to be unveiled later this spring and construction on the next phase to begin in late 2007. Being able to occupy the space in stages (and over a 16 year period, for that matter) has allowed us to learn as we grow. In fact, the group from Public Allies that I mentioned in a previous paragraph asked me to define our success, and slow and steady growth is certainly one of the many answers to that question. In the ten months that we have occupied our new home we've had a chance to discover what works and what doesn't, and that is helping us to make wise choices about the final plans. In the meantime we are doing our best to keep up with the current needs of our community and the demands put on our present space. At this time, we have two rooms available to outside community groups and a wide ranging list of activities that include support groups, health screenings, HIV testing and counseling, a spirituality/sexuality discussion group, monthly game nights, andas of this weekan opera discussion group. Though perhaps as yet we can't claim to "have something for everyone," thanks to this generous community, we someday will. Though we are reaching our original Founders' Circle goals, our needs are many and varied and we ask for your continued support in the coming years as we continue to make this dream a reality. My thanks to all who have helped us to get this far. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 16, No. 2 March 10, 2006 |