Miami Herald (MH) - Tuesday, April 28, 1998
Ana Veciana Suarez; Herald Staff Writer

She is an unlikely heroine. Her past is less then postcard perfect, and her future far from Hallmark card material. She's edgy, brazen, and she dishes as much as she can take.

What would you expect? Sheri Kaplan grew up poor in upstate New York, the oldest of three sisters, with a mother devastated by divorce. "God's country," she calls the area with a rueful laugh. A time and place where the top draws were alcoholism and pregnancy. "I couldn't wait to get out of there," she says.

At 13, she lost her virginity to an 18-year-old. At 15, during a visit to see her father in Miami, she decided to stay. With the help of her stepmother, she starred in her own ugly duckling transformation: had her teeth straightened, contacts put in, clothing style changed.

With the new look came the different personality, the all-night parties at clubs and a smorgasbord of men. At 25, she was partying five nights a week, working two jobs -- and still feeling she was missing out on something.

"I became the social butterfly, a party animal," says Kaplan, now 33. "I learned to develop an attitude."

But in 1994, during an exam at a clinic where she had asked for birth-control pills, she learned she was HIV-positive.

"I thought they had made a mistake. I thought my test had been confused with some gay guy's."

What she didn't know then but knows now is this: The possible death sentence was also a door left open. Kaplan sought out a support group. Unable to find one that she felt fit her needs, she began sowing the seeds of what is now The Center for Positive Connections, a not-for-profit organization aimed mainly at HIV-positive heterosexuals. Established in 1995, the North Dade center now has about 540 members, most between the ages of 31 and 40. (To reach the center, call [305] 891-2066, or write 12490 NE Seventh Ave., Suite 212, North Miami, Fla. 33161).

Originally, The Center for Positive Connections was limited to a monthly social event. But as membership increased, so did the demand for additional services. Now, Positive Connections offers peer counseling, referrals, educational lectures, community outreach, a speakers bureau, a quarterly newsletter -- and support groups. Its mission, though, remains the same: to educate and empower individuals living with HIV/AIDS and to raise community awareness.

For her work, Kaplan will be one of three guests honored Wednesday at an awards luncheon for Mothers' Voices. Like Positive Connections, Mothers' Voices is a nonprofit group that promotes advocacy and education, but it aims its efforts at mothers, encouraging them to teach their children about HIV prevention.

With five kids myself, three of them teenagers, I'm very aware of the importance of providing accurate, preventive information on sexual health. I also know that those who go to Positive Connections to seek solace in its services and friendship at its parties are people like you and me. They have families, they work, they enjoy hobbies, they attend church and synagogue. And they didn't think this disease would happen to them.

Listen to Alice, infected by her husband: "I knew nothing about AIDS. I had read about it, but I thought I didn't have to worry about it because I was in a monogamous relationship. Monogamous for me, obviously."

To keep Positive Connections afloat, Kaplan has overcome great financial and emotional odds, including a robbery that emptied the organization's account. Another client, Elena, infected by her fiance in the 1980s, puts it this way: "Positive Connections is Sheri. I don't think anyone else could have put so much love and compassion, all that sweat and tears. She's had all these setbacks, and she just keeps coming back."

Like the honoring organization, Mothers Voices, Positive Connections recognizes the monumental job of education it must accomplish. Too many still consider AIDS a gay man's disease, not a horrible sickness that can happen to anyone. Maybe that's why Kaplan says, "I feel like I'm doing God's work. I realize this is what I'm here for."

* Ana Veciana-Suarez's column runs Tuesday in Living & Arts and Sunday in Tropic. She can be reached at (305) 376-3633 in Miami-Dade, (954) 764-7026, ext. 3633 in Broward, or by e-mail at aveciana@aol.com

CAPTION: photo: Sheri Kaplan (a)

RANDY BAZEMORE / Herald Staff credit for Kaplan photo MOVED TO ACTION: Sheri Kaplan learned that she is HIV-positive in 1994. Her search for a support group led her to start Positive Connections in 1995.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1998. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1998. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .