Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Miami Herald, Inc.; Sunday, September 8, 1996
Miriam Stawowy; Herald Writer
Kaplan, executive director and founder of the Center for Positive Connections, a support group for HIV-positive heterosexuals, has been dealing with challenges every day since she was diagnosed HIV-positive two and a half years ago.
So it was just another obstacle to overcome when she returned home last July from the World AIDS Conference in Canada. Her once trustworthy aide had ransacked her home and stolen the money, office equipment and car she needed to run her center.
"The robbery almost made me close my doors," the 31-year- old North Bay Village resident said. "I was so discouraged."
Friends and members at Positive Connections persuaded her to keep her faith.
"They convinced me that we're strong and we are survivors," Kaplan said. "There's too many people that need us."
To recover from the losses, Kaplan is holding a fund-raiser Friday evening at the MoJazz Bar on North Beach.
Last week Positive Connections got a $4,000 grant from the Levitt Foundation. Kaplan found a volunteer accounting firm to take care of the group's not-for-profit status.
Now, Kaplan plans to expand the support group.
It's people like Julia Llorente, 39, whose husband died of an AIDS-related illness almost four years ago who find comfort at Positive Connections.
"I didn't have the emotional support I needed," said Llorente, who lives in Edgewater, and was diagnosed with full- blown AIDS about two years ago. "That's what I found with this group."
Her three children, age 6, 15 and 20, are supportive and educated about AIDS, Llorente said.
Through the support group, Llorente met an HIV-positive man she is now dating.
About 15 to 20 people meet weekly at the North Miami center at 12490 NE Seventh Ave. Those from 17 to 73 years old share experiences. Topics range from the effects of medication to accepting death. At the end of the sessions, participants form a healing circle.
"This is such a relief for people to walk into and be accepted open-heartedly," Kaplan said.
Kaplan speaks locally to students in middle schools, high schools and colleges and adults in rehabilitation centers and adult education schools.
"I put a face on HIV," Kaplan said. "Sometimes the only face they've seen is a gay man and not someone who could be your sister or your mother."
Being HIV-positive has made her a better person, Kaplan said.
"People with HIV are a tribe," she said. "We appreciate, we accept and place less judgments. We show more gratitude for the littlest things."
cutlines
RANDY BAZEMORE / Herald Staff
BACK AT WORK: Sheri Kaplan returns to her job at the Center for Positive Connections after the theft of her car and office equipment.
CAPTION: photo: Sheri Kaplan (A)
Published by: The Miami Herald, Inc.; a Knight Ridder publication. One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693
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