Murray Archibald and Steve Elkins met in 1978 while both were working in the White House under the Carter Administration. They have now been together for 34 years and live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Twenty-two years ago, they founded CAMP Rehoboth, a community service organization settled in a small house on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, a busy retreat along the Delaware shore and popular vacation spot for the LGBT crowd between New York and Washington, DC.
As the beach resort became more and more popular for its gay-friendly atmosphere, Murray and Steve wished there could be a "focus-a place people could come for information about the community. "They thought there should be a way of reaching out "for understanding and cooperation" between members of the gay and lesbian community and the local merchants, government, police and fire officials, year-round and summer residents and anyone else calling Rehoboth home. "Our goal was to work with the entire community," says Steve. "After all, if we were isolated and that led to divisions in the community, we wouldn’t really be a living representation of what the rainbow means."
The name Rehoboth means "room for all" and the "CAMP" part comes from "Creating A More Positive" world...... that and the double entendre of what it means to be "camp" in the gay community. Initially starting with a small office and a rainbow colored wooden fence, the organization has since moved into larger space along the avenue. The organization is a pillar of the Rehoboth Beach community and has supported the arts, offered health programs, fights discrimination, promotes political awareness, hosts training, works for LGBT equality, and continues to forge a bond between the businesses and government offices of the community. They also publish "Letters from CAMP Rehoboth," originally a 4 page newsletter and now running 88 to 120 pages per issue.
Steve and Murray are now the Executive Director and President of the Board of the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center and continue to devote their efforts to making "room for all."